


Wings

by UrbanNightingale



Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men Evolution, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - still powers for some, Character Death, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Erik is Crushing Harder than a 12-year Old Girl, Explicit Sexual Content, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Male Slash, People growing wings, Physical Abuse, Violence, a bit OOC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-28 10:20:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 44,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6325198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UrbanNightingale/pseuds/UrbanNightingale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life wasn't easy for Charles Xavier - with his mother missing and an abusive stepfamily always breathing down his neck. It sure didn't get any easier the day he found out the he was special. That he possessed powers some people would be prepared to kill him for. </p><p>Alternate Universe, Cherik, High Shool-aged.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Subway Attack

**Author's Note:**

> After leaving this story unfinished for years, I finally finished it!  
> I also revised a lot… Wow, looking at stuff you wrote too long ago really hurts your brain.

_(Charles’ POV)_

Charles absolutely had to find his stepbrother. Unfortunately for him, there was no trace of Cain anywhere. It was his own fault, really. He had been talking too long with Erik after school, and now he was late. He'd missed the time he was supposed to meet up with Cain. Although they typically walked the whole way home, he was pretty sure his stepbrother had mentioned taking the subway home to save time. _He_ still had a social life after all.

“Cain!” he called a third time. Still no reply.

He sincerely hoped Cain hadn’t really left without him or he would be in a lot of trouble when he got home. He turned left and made his way through the tunnels. There were fewer people than ordinarily down here. Usually he would have to fight his way through tons of stressed commuters not wanting to miss their trains, but today there were only four people not including himself.

It really shouldn’t be that hard to find somebody with so few people around. Where had everybody gone? He called again. Still nothing.

An uneasy feeling made him start running and turn to the right. He was going to be in so much trouble. He scanned the tiny crowd in front of him and paused.

A large man, leaning against the tiled wall, stared back at him with what appeared to be both concern and curiosity. With his wild hair and buff exterior, the man made for an intimidating sight. Charles felt uncomfortable under the man’s intense gaze and quickly hurried away to continue the search for Cain.

As he reached the next platform, a sign informed him that the next train south was to arrive within five minutes.

“Wrong,” he mumbled to himself. Wrong platform. He would most definitely not find his stepbrother here. Walking back to the stairs, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Cain’s number once again.

_“The number you have dialed is not available. Please try again later.”_

_Well, it was worth a shot_ , he thought and put his phone back. He heard footsteps behind him and stopped abruptly. It would seem he wasn’t as alone down here as he’d initially thought. A strong and unnatural uneasiness spread within him and he began walking again, faster this time. Something felt wrong. Something felt wrong all the way to the core of his soul.

The corridor ahead was just as empty as the last one with just one major difference; it was a dead end. He tried calming himself down, telling himself that he was acting paranoid and had nothing to fear. Other people were allowed to walk down here as well. Didn’t mean they were going to hurt him.

Then the footsteps from behind were getting closer and he felt his palms get sweaty. No, he should be afraid. Every instinct in his body told him so. A sharp and distressingly familiar ache in his chest amplified his panic.

 _Not now,_ he thought and cursed the timing of his chest pains. The footsteps were getting close, close enough that he could now tell there were more than one set of them. Maybe they’d realize it was a dead end sooner than Charles. Then maybe they would turn back.

They didn’t.

He’d reached the end now. The dead end. There was a door marked ‘ _Authorized Personnel Only’._ It was locked. He turned around slowly. The pain in his chest worsened and he whimpered internally. It had never been this bad before. Combined with his rising feelings of panic, it almost completely immobilized him.

 _It’s going to be okay,_ he soothed himself. _It’ll pass. The pain will pass. Just like always._

Looking up, he saw two people clad in black; a slender blonde woman and a horrifyingly red-skinned man. The woman eyed him with little interest but the man grinned evilly and made Charles feel that his panic and paranoia truly was justified.

“Told you I found one,” he laughed triumphantly. “An early stage, but still useful.”

The woman nodded. “Congratulations. You’ve managed to track the most obvious scent in the world. How very impressive,” she sneered and flipped her long hair back.

“Maybe if someone had bothered telling me how they smell in the first place, we would have caught some more,” he hissed.

The woman didn’t answer. She kept her gaze locked on Charles. Then she extended her hand towards him in what one might have viewed as a friendly gesture had her fingernails not suddenly grown to the length of her forearm. Charles was frozen in place. The pain in his chest intensified at the sight, and he could barely breathe anymore.

“Let’s get this over with,” she said as her crimson nails now resembled long talons. She pounced.

That really should have been the end of him. But out of instincts he didn’t know he possessed, Charles put one hand to his temple and stretched another out in front of him, as if guided by the raw panic still pumping adrenalin through his system. A warm sensation spread through his head. It felt as if his consciousness was spread across two minds rather than one. The woman screeched and clenched her head in agony.

Shocked at the way he felt her pain, Charles pulled both his hands to his chest and saw the woman lying in a fetal position on the ground. The red man’s eyes turned deadly and red claws sprung from his nails as well as he snarled and pounced.

A terrified shriek escaped Charles’ lips as he closed his eyes and braced himself for the blow. It didn’t come. He heard no other noise than the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears. He opened his eyes and saw the man lie bloody next to the woman. Charles stared at the two in stunned silence before a rough hand grabbed his wrist and dragged him past them, away from the dead end.

“You alright?” growled the voice of the man dragging him. Charles recognized him as the large man from earlier. He wondered why the man wasn’t freaking out. Charles felt like freaking out. He felt like freaking out a lot.

“I … don’t know,” he answered shakily as he was pulled upstairs and away from the subway. Charles finally realized that they were leaving the place and tried to pull the other man to a stop. An impossible task when the man was so much bigger than him.

“Wait! I can’t leave,” he tried. “My stepbrother might still be down here somewhere. I can’t just leave him!”

“He’s got a better chance of surviving if you’re not there,” the man said gravely. They made their way outside and into a larger crowd of people. The man sped up, forcing Charles to run in order to keep up.

“How?” he asked. Even though Cain was rather large in size, Charles had a hard time picturing him actually fighting those strange people in black.

“Because you’re their target.” The man wore a tormented look on his rough face.

“Me?”

“Yeah,” the man said as he dragged Charles through the nearby playground. “Well, not just you. They’ve probably caught my scent now as well.”

Charles tried understanding the man’s words but it was all happening far too fast and it honestly just wasn’t making that much sense to him. His breathing became shallow but the adrenalin kept him running. Fifteen minutes later they finally stopped running and the man let go of Charles wrist. The skin underneath the hand had turned red and Charles rubbed it gingerly. Could have been worse. _Had been worse_.

“I suppose, I should thank you,” he said with a cautious smile, turning towards the intimidating man, “for saving my life”.

“No problem,” the man shrugged and sniffed their air around them like a big dog.

“I’m Charles, by the way,” he said, thinking it odd that he didn’t that the man who’d just saved his life was a total stranger. The man eyed him warily.

“Logan,” he answered and checked the surroundings again. “We should get you home.”

Charles shuddered. He was going to have to return home without Cain. There were definitely going to be consequences.


	2. Instincts

_(Erik’s POV)_

Charles hadn’t come to school, Erik concluded as he scouted the schoolyard from his place amongst ‘the bad eggs’ by the brick wall. Erik hadn’t seen him enter school with his stepbrother like he usually did every morning, he hadn’t seen him in the cafeteria during lunch, and he hadn’t passed him by his locker fifteen minutes ago. Erik was annoyed. The Xavier boy was just about the only reason he actually bothered coming to school.

“Hey Lehnsherr,” Janos called, effectively interrupting his thoughts. Erik lazily turned his head. Somehow that guy always managed to interrupt his thoughts at such times that he was almost constantly irritated with him. Janos sat down by the wall and a few of the others greeted him with a cigarette.

“He’s not here today, is he?” he guessed, quite correctly, and flashed Erik a knowing grin. A few of the others snickered. Erik’s fixation was hardly a secret.

“Maybe he’s finally suing you for sexual harassment,” Janos grinned. Erik tried punching the nuisance but he moved just out of his reach and Erik was feeling too lazy to make an actual effort.

“Cheer up, already,” one of the other tried. “You’re gonna be no fun at all at the concert if you keep sulking like that.”

“I am not sul-“

“Speak of the devil,” Janos interrupted and pointed towards the parking lot. “Seems he’s coming anyways.”

Erik’s head shot up instantly and sure enough, Charles Xavier was making his way across the parking lot. Erik frowned. The boy didn’t look too good, well not as good as usual. He had dark circles under his blue eyes, his dark hair was a total mess, and the big sweater he wore had fallen halfway down his left shoulder.

Erik would like to believe that he had the dignity to not confirm what his friends had just said by walking over to the newcomer immediately, but he was already halfway across the schoolyard when he thought of this. A gush of wind brushed the pile of papers out of Charles’ hands and the boy dropped to pick them up with an annoyed groan.

“You’re late,” Erik said as he picked up one of Charles’ papers. Startled blue eyes looked up at him and widened, making Erik smirk. He always seemed to make Charles a bit uncomfortable. Quite amusing.

“I … um … overslept, it would seem,” Charles stated as he ran a nervous hand through his already messy hair. Erik lifted an eyebrow. In his opinion, Charles didn’t look like he’d slept at all. Shrugging it off he handed the boy his paper back, making sure their hands brushed. Charles looked away awkwardly before scouting the school yard for his friends. Erik smiled. He knew they weren’t there. Then he remembered why he’d wanted to talk to Charles in the first place.

“Are you free tonight?” he asked, leaning closer to the other’s face. Charles’ breath audibly hitched a bit at the close proximity.

“I guess,” he answered. “Why?”

“Well there’s this thing tonight. In the park. A c-“

“A concert!” Janos interrupted as he slung an arm over Charles’ shoulder. “And _we_ would just _love_ for you to come with us.”

Erik glared at Janos. Was he really still mad at him for not attending his party last weekend? Janos moved even closer to Charles before turning his head towards the other guys by the brick wall.

“Wouldn’t we?” he grinned.

Yup, he was still mad. And the others joined his scheme and loudly agreed that they should definitely _all_ be hanging out tonight. Erik was fuming. He’d been looking for a decent chance to spend some alone time with Xavier for a long time, and the concert had seemed perfect. There would be a lot of people, meaning that Charles might be less hesitant about going with him. Knowing how much his friends intimidated Charles, there was a great possibility that the boy would come up with some excuse now.

“What do you say?” Janos asked in the nicest voice he possessed. It sounded downright threatening. Charles looked cornered but then he locked eyes with Erik and smiled, albeit a bit insecurely.

“Sure.”

“Excellent!” Janos exclaimed as he finally let go of Charles. “We’ll meet up by the usual place at eight. Lehnsherr knows the spot.”

Erik’s friends all went back to the brick wall, leaving him alone with Charles.

“It’s on the corner by the old music shop,” Erik explained. “You don’t _have_ to come if you’d rather go with your own friends.”

_Please come anyway._ Charles smiled.

“No, no. It sounds like fun.” The bell rang and Charles looked in the direction of the doors before finally getting a better hold on his books and papers.

“See you tonight.”

 

* * *

 

As expected none of Erik’s friends showed up on time. Or rather, Remy did but that was hardly noticeable. He was a very quiet guy, an observer, and almost never spoke unless it was something important like, ‘The teacher’s asking for you’ or ‘Look out. There’s a car!’

This night was no exception. He just looked at his worn watch a few times and frowned irritably. Erik never said it out loud but he much preferred Remy to his other friends. Even if he did dress like a tattered homeless man with his long hair and holed gloves.

“Hey! Missed me?” Janos called from the other side of the road. Every eye in the street was on him but he either didn’t notice or didn’t mind. Behind him were a few of the others. And Charles.

Erik sighed with relief. He’d been concerned he wouldn’t come. It was a shame he’d run into the gang before him. He looked extremely uncomfortable and out of place, tucking repeatedly on his hoodie string. Erik wished – not for the first time – that murdering your friends wasn’t illegal.

Charles made his way to Erik’s side as soon as the group had crossed the road. He smiled up at Erik with a timid ‘hello’. Erik grinned.

“ _cough_ -SHARK- _cough_ ” Janos fake-coughed warningly behind him. Erik glared at him. He was getting a little sick of that comparison. Charles looked confused for about half a minute before his eyes widened with realization and he quickly held a hand to his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Now Erik was _really_ sad about not being able to kill Janos.

“Let’s get going,” he growled and began walking towards the park. Charles followed very closely to Erik, still uncomfortable around the intimidating gang.

 

* * *

 

( _Charles’ POV_ )

The park was crowded with noisy teenagers. Loud speakers sent deep bass tones right into the faces of Charles and the others. He made sure to stay as close to Erik as he could without actually touching him. Erik’s loud friend, Janos, offered him a sip of beer. He politely declined, feeling the nausea rise at the mere smell of the golden liquid. He didn’t drink. He couldn’t. The very idea of drinking brought him a crystal clear image of his stepfather as he knew him best; drunk and unpleasant.

“Well, John and I promised to find Maddie so we’re gonna go look. Later!” Janos yelled as he pulled John through the massive crowd. Most of the others left, too, to go look for various friends or vacant urination spots. That left Charles almost alone with Erik. If only the silent one would leave. Erik and the other guy exchanged a look before the guy smirked and mumbled some excuse for leaving.

Charles fidgeted with his sleeve as he and Erik were finally alone. Or rather, as alone as they could be in a park full of drunken highschoolers. He had no idea what to do. And his mind was suddenly fresh out of things to say.

“There sure are a lot of people out tonight,” he tried lamely, kicking himself for not thinking of something better. He actually really wanted to speak to Erik Lehnsherr. He really did. There was just something about the guy, something so intimidating that Charles’ mind went blank every time he tried. It shouldn’t stop him from trying, though.

“Sure are,” Erik agreed with a smirk. “Wanna get closer to the stage?”

Charles nodded, though he honestly still had no clue as to who was performing. It had taken so much effort to sneak out for the night that he hadn’t had the time to look it up. Erik grabbed his hand and began walking him further into the park. Charles was strangely reminded of the day before and his meeting with Logan.

They passed a loud group of guys wolf-whistling a pretty blonde in a very short skirt, and Charles briefly thought he recognized one of them. It didn’t matter, though. If he didn’t recognize them immediately he probably never would.

“Argh!!” he cried as he suddenly fell victim to his chest pains again. He pulled his hand free and crossed both his arms across his chest, leaning against the nearest stable thing; Erik.

“Are you okay?” Erik asked in a concerned voice and put a hand on his shoulder. Charles nodded breathlessly but slid to the ground. It should pass soon, he reminded himself. He hated these chest pains so much, and after the events of the day before he was actually a little scared of them now as well. He tried to ignore it like he usually would, but the increased amount of pain made it near impossible to even breathe, let alone act normally. It was getting worse every day.

The feeling of pain was stronger than he was used to, but also different. Instead of an actual pain, this time it felt like something was actually pulling at his heart. The same feeling was spreading through his mind, dragging his consciousness towards something in the farthest corner of the park.

As if in a trance Charles got up and moved towards the place. If felt like an invisible string was pulling him through his foggy new view of the world, and an unsettling worry began dominating his head. Something bad had happened. Something horrible. He just knew, instinctively, just like he knew he was somehow involved.

He also knew someone was following him. He didn’t bother checking, he was fairly certain it was Erik. His gut told him that he needed to go somewhere just outside of the park. So he did, completely controlled by his new uncovered instincts, he ignored the worried calls from Erik behind him. He began running, still unsure why, and hurried towards a back alley.

An underfed cat was startled by his sudden appearance and hid behind a trashcan. Charles ignored it. He knew he wasn’t here for the cat; he was here for whatever was in those giant dumpsters in the back.

A panic spread to his core as he made his way over. He really didn’t _want_ to open the lid. But he _should_. Hesitantly he pulled the lid off the closest dumpster.

He screamed. He screamed all his lungs could handle, which was quite a lot as it turned out. He let himself fall down hard onto the asphalt. In the dumpster was a girl around his age, buried in garbage and blood with a deep hole on the left side of her chest. Right where Charles now felt the pull tightening.

“What’s wrong?” a voice sounded behind him. Erik sat down next to him and took his hand. Charles weakly lifted a shaky arm to point at the dumpster. The girl in the container wasn’t even pale yet. If you didn’t look at the blood or the gaping hole in her chest, she just looked like she was sleeping. Charles felt sick when he realized he’d seen her before. She was the pretty blonde those guys had been howling at.

“Ah shit!” Erik exclaimed upon checking the dumpster. He ran both hands through his dark strands and closed his eyes. For a brief moment, Charles almost thought he saw strangeness in the other’s eyes but it disappeared quickly as Erik composed himself. He pulled out his phone and called for help, before sitting down next to Charles.

“Are you okay?” he asked and rubbed soothing circles on Charles’ back. _Of course not_ , Charles thought in frustration. There was a dead girl in a dumpster and he was in serious pain. Wait …

“It’s gone?” he exclaimed, unintentionally leaning closer into Erik’s touch. The pain was gone. He looked up at Erik in confusion. When did that happen?


	3. Wings and Voices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Speaking in italics with three dots and apostrophes around is Charles hearing someone else’s thoughts.

_(Charles’ POV)_

It hurt. It hurt so incredibly bad. Charles sat on the floor of the bathroom with his knees pulled tightly to his chest in order to force the pain back. It didn’t help. He leaned against the outside of the shower and listened to the stream of water he was using as an excuse to hide in the bathroom.

“You dead in there or what?!” Cain called as he knocked harshly on the locked door.

Charles sighed, knowing his time was up. He didn’t want to mess with someone who was quite capable of taking the door down, so he got up and turned the water off. After waiting three rebellious seconds before unlocking the door, he snuck past his large stepbrother. Not working. The guy took rude hold of his wrist and glared challengingly down at him. Charles looked away. He didn’t bother putting up a fight. Not anymore. He’d lost every bit of rebellious edge to him years ago.

_‘…. Why the hell isn’t your hair wet?....”_

“I dried it,” he lied.

“What?” Cain looked puzzled. ‘…. _The hell is wrong with that kid? …’_

Still. He just shook his head and pushed past Charles to the bathroom. Charles quietly made his way back to his room, making as little noise as possible in fear that he might wake up his stepfather. The pain was still there, intensifying now that nothing else was demanding his attention. He slid to the floor to continue feeling sorry for himself. He really didn’t have time for this. He had homework to do. He supposed he was lucky he was a little ahead of the class anyway, but that wasn’t going to last if he kept spending all of his time on the floor.

He heard a noise outside of his window but chose to ignore it. It was probably just one of those gangs causing trouble again. He sighed. They used to live in such a nice neighborhood, Charles and his mother. Then his mother married Kurt Marko and their money seemed to have decreased rapidly. Now he was stuck in this less than desirable apartment with Kurt and Cain until his mother returned from her trip to England no one would tell him anything about. He hadn’t heard from her in so long. Another noise made him look up at the window with a frown.

‘… _can’t hear? Just come out already…’_

Charles looked around wildly. He’d heard the voice as clear as had it been spoken directly into his ear yet there appeared to be no one in the room but himself. Another noise, louder this time, sounded

close to him and he finally understood where it came from. Something was being thrown at his window.

Curiosity and pain battled each other for a few minutes before the need to know finally got Charles to make his way to the windowsill.

‘…. _Finally…’_

There was little light in the streets but he could sense the outline of a broad figure standing in the street, facing his building. The figure stepped into the cone of light coming from the lamppost. It was Logan.

The rough-looking man stared Charles in the eyes and made a gesture to get the boy down. Charles quickly got up and was about to head out when reason finally caught up to him. This was a stranger, and a scary-looking one at that. And he wasn’t even allowed to be out at night. Kurt had been _very_ upset with him when he found out about the concert.

‘ _…just come down already!...’_

The voice was growing impatient. Was it Logan’s? He couldn’t quite recall the sound of the man’s voice but surely it couldn’t be. He was all the way down there. Charles finally made up his mind and headed out of his room as quietly as he could. Stranger or not, Logan had saved his life. If that didn’t earn some respect, what did?

Grabbing his keys and putting on his sneakers, he persistently listened for any sound indicating that Kurt was about to wake from the couch. He’d learnt to stay under the radar. It was easier. Remembering his stepfather he self-consciously pulled his sleeves down over the new bruises on his arms. He carefully locked the door and hurried down the stairwell.

As he entered the cool night wind he spotted Logan, still standing by the lamppost. Charles flinched as another shot of pain hit him in the chest. Logan’s brows furrowed.

‘… _it’s gonna happen soon…’_

Charles’ head shot up. “What’s going to happen?”

“What?” The man looked confused.

“You said ‘it’s gonna happen soon’,” Charles clarified and rubbed his chest. “What’s going to happen?”

Logan stared at him strangely for a second before nodding knowingly.

“So that’s what you do.” The curiosity vanished from Logan’s eyes as Charles flinched in pain again, whimpering this time. Charles could hear the rush of his blood in his ears and his head was starting to spin. Logan was quick to catch him when his knees got too weak to carry him. He put Charles’ arm over his shoulder and started to walk him away from the street.

‘ … _can’t happen here. Someone might see. THEY might smell it…’_

“See what?” Charles managed, confused as he could have sworn Logan’s mouth had remained closed when he heard the words.

“You’ll find out soon enough, Kiddo. We need to go somewhere,” Logan explained. “Don’t worry. It’s close.”

Charles wanted to ask more questions but the pain in his chest had turned into a fire, rapidly claiming every corner of his being.

The world was spinning far too much for Charles to see where they were going but when they eventually stopped he was placed on the floor of a closed shop. He glanced up. It was shoe store. A closed one. The windows were covered heavily in drapes and cardboard and the smell of leather filled the air around him.

“New kid?” a strange voice asked somewhere behind him.

“Yeah,” Logan responded before sitting down next to Charles to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Kiddo, but it’s just me and Alex today,” he said. “But we’re gonna get you through this, alright?”

Charles opened his mouth to ask countless questions but was silenced by another round of fire coursing through his body. It was too much. He could hardly handle the pain in his chest and now it was _everywhere_. He whimpered and felt another hand on his back. He briefly thought back to the girl in the alley, to Erik’s hand on his back. He missed Erik.

“Hey, hey,” the strange voice, Alex, said. “It’s gonna hurt real bad but after that it gets better. A lot better.”

Charles looked up at the boy. He looked around his age with blond hair and handsome features. Charles whimpered pathetically as the fire burnt his insides again. Wasn’t people supposed to black out when experiencing this big an amount of pain? Wasn’t the brain supposed to spare you of that kind of hurt?

He screamed. It was too much. Far too much. Alex pulled him close, muttering comforts into his ears. Had it not been for the pain Charles would have noticed the pity and empathy in his voice. Charles clung to the boy’s t-shirt and buried his face into the other’s chest as his breathing grew rapid.

He felt the pain gather around his shoulder blades. He heard the sound of fabric tearing and the pain seared out of his body from two spots on his upper back. He pulled away from Alex’s chest to look up. Gazing into a mirror placed on the floor near a shelf of boots, he saw his own eyes staring wildly back at him. Two beams of light had shot out from around his shoulder blades, ripping through his shirt. The light materialized into two triangular shapes and Charles felt a warm liquid run down his back.

He clenched his eyes shut. This wasn’t happening. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. He let out a breath of relief when the pain vanished out his back. He opened his eyes and gasped loudly.

“W-what’s.. I-I don’t… how??!” he cried.

The Charles in the mirror now had two large white wings behind him where the triangular lights had been. Alex laughed. “I think those were my exact words, too.”

The mirror had to be lying. Maybe it was a trick? Charles turned his head. It wasn’t. Turning his head, he got a face full of feathers. He sneezed, making Alex laugh even louder.

“Didn’t do that, though!”

Logan hit him on the back of the head. “Shut it, Punk,” he hissed before checking the big clock on the opposite wall. “And we’ve kept you out for too long, Kiddo. Your parents gonna notice?”

Charles shook his head uncertainly. “What’s going on?”

Logan and Alex shared a look and the blond got up to go mess around behind the counter. Logan scratched his sideburns.

“It’s a bit of a story, Kiddo. Maybe we should save it for when we have the full group gathered. They wanna know, too.”

Charles looked around the shop. Boxes of shoes were piled up against the walls and shelves. He didn’t recognize the place at all. Then again, he wasn’t that big of a shoe-shopper, or any kind of shopper, really. Logan stood and stretched before making his way to the back door. Charles panicked.

“Wait! I can’t go home. Not when I look like this!” he cried out. “What I am going to do!”

Maybe the wings could be surgically removed. Maybe he could find a surgeon who could keep his mouth shut. Maybe he should just hide in a basement forever. Maybe-

“Easy, easy!” Alex called and Charles realized he was starting to hyperventilate. The wings knocked a few nearby shoeboxes off a shelf.

“You can make them go away but you have to _calm yourself down_ ,” Logan said. “Calm your breathing.”

Charles did his best to pull himself together and forcibly calmed his breathing. It was difficult but he eventually managed.

“Atta boy,” Logan spoke. “Now focus on the wings. You should be able to feel them just as much as much as you can feel your arms and legs.”

Charles tried to focus on his back and moved his shoulder blades experimentally. And sure enough, he felt them. The wings felt heavy and weak but as he got in touch with the muscle, they spread, taking up quite a lot of room and knocking a few more boxes down.

“Now try to pull them back.”

Charles did as he was told. At first the wings just closed in around him. Then they spread backwards and Charles felt it. He felt a way out. A sort of hole to retract them into. So he did. He watched in the mirror as the wings turned to light again, and the light disappeared into his back again.

“Fast learner,” Logan praised and stretched out his hand for Charles to take. He helped him to his feet. Seeing himself in another mirror, Charles gasped at what he saw from the new angle. The back of his shirt was holed and covered in blood and the red liquid now dripped to the floor as he shook.

“It’s fine,” Alex said as he moved to Charles’ side. “Your back should have healed already. You should probably take this, though.”

He handed Charles a thick sweatshirt and grinned. “People might stare.”

Hesitantly, Charles took off his ruined shirt and put on the sweatshirt instead. Alex watched him attentively, eyeing the bruises on him with great curiosity. He at least had the courtesy not to mention them.

“So, what can you do?”

“Pardon?” Charles asked.

“He’s a mind-reader,” Logan said near the door, ready to take Charles home.

Alex looked Charles up and down. ‘… _a pretty mind-reader …’_

Charles flushed.

 

* * *

 

_(Erik’s POV)_

Footsteps. He ran down the dark alley. The scent was driving him crazy, burning his nostrils and sneaking into his brain. The dark desire rose again.

The scent. It was calling him, carried by the polluted city air and waking up his inner monster. He could hear it. It was just one this time. All alone and defenseless. He wasn’t in control anymore. The monster was claiming his mind and taking over his body.

He saw it. A boy. A tall one but still, all alone. The monster growled and grew out its talons. It jumped. The boy screamed out of fear and surprise.

The boy was fighting, fighting the hardest he could for the only life he had. Hopeless. Erik was bigger and stronger than he.

Warm red liquid streamed down his hand as it pierced through the boy’s chest. And he found it. The heart. He could feel it throbbing in his palm. The monster grinned and pulled the hardening organ out of the stiffening body. The boy fell to the ground.

The heart glistened in the street light. Then it hardened entirely. Harder and harder, until Erik stood with a crimson fist-sized jewel in his hand.

Then the guilt hit him as the monster went back into hiding. He’d done it again. And he felt horrible. He should get away. And so he did, stuffing the heart into the pocket of his coat.


	4. Guilt and Standards

_(Erik’s POV)_

He felt terrible, just like he always did these days. He was a constant victim to a sick combination of guilt and self-satisfaction. He both hated and applauded his actions and it confused him to no end. Sometimes it felt like the guilt and self-loathing wasn’t even real, just a defense mechanism to feel like less of a psychopath. Like it was something he _forced_ himself to feel, to cover up the pride and the satisfaction.

The brick wall felt nice and cool to his back. He turned his head against it, hoping it would rid him of the headache that was rising up. He’d spent the entire morning contemplating whether or not to actually go to school today. Right now he couldn’t even remember why he’d decided to come.

“Erik?” _Oh, right. That’s why,_ he thought as he opened his eyes to stare into the worried face of Charles Xavier.

“Hmm?”

“Are you alright?” Charles asked. Erik smiled. He loved how genuine Charles’ concern for other people was, such a rare quality.

“I’m fine,” he told the boy and managed a smile. “Why?”

“Um, I don’t know… you just looked a bit…” _utterly miserable?_ “… miserable.”

Erik raised an eyebrow at the choice of word. That sure was intuitive. Charles cleared his throat.

“I’m fine,” he assured the brunet and took a sip of his cup of to-go coffee. It was horrible. He briefly noted that Charles’ friends didn’t seem to be around for once. Was that intentional?

“Are you sure?” Charles asked, still with worry in his eyes. _His very pretty blue eyes._ Charles fidgeted awkwardly with the strap of his messenger bag as his cheeks tinted red. What was up with him today?

“I really am fine, Charles,” he said. “Just had a rough night.”

 _Looks like you did too._ The boy looked even more disheveled than yesterday. Charles nodded in understanding to his answer before shocking Erik by actually sitting down next to him by the brick wall. With just the messenger bag between them the guy seemed even smaller than before.

“You’re not eating with your friends today?” Erik asked when the lunch bell rang and the boy next to him made no move to leave. Charles shook his head.

“I’m not really hungry. And I think Moira and Amy can manage forty minutes without me,” he laughed before blushing as he added, “Besides, you count as a friend, too. Right?”

Erik almost laughed at the insecurity behind that last word. “I guess I do.”

“Didn’t you sleep last night?” He finally asked when he couldn’t stop being bothered by the tired look on the other’s pretty face. Charles smiled and rubbed his wrist a little.

“Not really,” the boy admitted. Erik offered him his cup of coffee and grinned when Charles cringed at the taste. Charles’ sleeve had succumbed to gravity when the boy had lifted the cup and Erik’s eyes fixated on the dark purple bruise around his tiny wrist. Erik’s grin disappeared.

“What happened to you?” he asked, suddenly angry. Who dared put a hand on someone as sweet and good as Charles? Charles immediately realized his mistake and quickly pulled the sleeve back over his wrist.

“It’s nothing. Just a stupid accident,” he mumbled. _Right_.

Erik could easily tell that Charles wasn’t comfortable talking about it, and since he didn’t want to ruin whatever little time he got to spend with him he left it at that. Charles yawned next to him, eyes blinking to stay open.

“Tired?” Erik asked with a grin.

“Just a little,” the boy answered through another yawn. He proceeded to explain some complications about his studying that had apparently resulted in some lack of sleep but barely made it through the tale as he was slowly falling asleep against the warm brick wall.

Erik smiled softly and reached out to move Charles’ bag out of the way so he could sit closer. Falling asleep entirely, Charles’ head slid down to rest against Erik’s ready shoulder.

Must have been more than just a _little_ tired. He smiled. Maybe Charles wasn’t really as uncomfortable around Erik as he’d originally thought.

Someone wolf-whistled a few meters away from him and he looked up to see his friends making faces at him. Rolling his eyes, he flipped them off and ignored them as they left laughing. Well, most of them. Remy grinned and gave him a wink and a thumbs-up.

The bell rang and the schoolyard emptied slowly as the sighing students made their way back to class. Erik briefly thought about waking up Charles but decided against it. Looking down at the boy, he noticed that his usual way-too-big sweater had come down one of his shoulders. Erik frowned when he noticed another bruise around the boy’s collarbone. That definitely wasn’t from an accident. What the hell was going on with him?

After almost half an hour the boy finally stirred out of his slumber. He groggily looked around the empty schoolyard, obviously confused. Then it must have dawned of him that classes had started because with a panicked look on his face, he jumped to his feet.

“Oh my God, what time is it?!” the boy exclaimed. Erik grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the ground next to him. “Has the bell rung?!”

“Relax,” he whispered into Charles’ ear, smirking as the boy shivered. “Yes, the bell rang, about 35 minutes ago.”

Wide blue eyes filled with terror at the awareness of being late but he made no move to get up again. “But why didn’t you wake me up. You’ll be late too.”

“I’m failing anyways,” Erik shrugged. Charles eyed him sadly.

“Look, I know you don’t really want to skip class,” Erik said. “Just because I’m not going doesn’t mean you should get in trouble.”

Charles looked torn, literally looking back and forth between Erik and the building. Then eventually he settled himself comfortably on the ground next to Erik. Erik lifted an eyebrow but didn’t question him any further.

“Erik, why do you come here?” Charles asked cautiously.

“Hmm?”

“I mean, you don’t seem to actually go class that often, yet I still see you almost every day,” Charles clarified. “Why is that?”

Erik laughed. _For the reason you just mentioned. To see you every day._

“Oh,” Charles said and looked away. Erik was confused. Had he said that out loud?

“Shouldn’t you be in class?” sounded a deep voice. Erik looked up to see a very large guy standing in front of them. Charles suddenly seemed two sizes smaller, almost crawling into himself. Erik recognized the guy as the person Charles walked to school with almost every day, his stepbrother Cain.

Erik didn’t like Cain. Not because he’d ever encountered the guy personally but because he’d heard the stories about him from his friends. His friends actually seemed weirdly intimidated by the guy, which was reason enough to dislike him. No one with the ability to intimidate his friends that way could possibly be a decent person. Erik liked him even less when he was glaring so threateningly at Charles.

“Um, yeah. I guess I should,” Charles said, looking away and biting his lip.

“He doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to do,” Erik spoke through gritted teeth. Charles looked at him with sad eyes.

“No, Cain’s right. I actually have a presentation today,” Charles said, not convincing Erik at all that it was his own decision.

He got up and grabbed his back, throwing an apologetic glance at Erik before leaving for class. Cain glared openly at Erik before stepping even closer.

“You need to stay away from him,” the giant said dangerously.

“Oh, and why is that?” Erik spat and got to his feet, feeling far too short when sitting before someone that big.

“I’ve been really patient with you, Lehnsherr. I’ve even allowed for you to talk to him almost every fucking day,” Cain said. “But it ends now. First he sneaks out to a concert and now he’s skipping? No freaking way.”

“How sweet, that you care so much for you brother. Quite endearing,” Erik mocked. Cain snorted.

“No one _cares_ about that brat,” he said, making Erik narrow his eyes. “My father needs him to keep up to a certain standard. I’m making sure of that.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Erik demanded. Cain just snorted again before turning to leave.

“None of your business.”


	5. Reasons Why

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan explains stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Text in bold with apostrophes around is Charles speaking to someone's mind.

_(Charles’ POV)_

_-Meet up at the shop tonight at ten –_

Charles had read the text from Logan at least twelve times already. He wasn’t entirely sure how he was going to pull that off when Cain was keeping such a close eye on him. There was a limit to how long he could pretend to study while his stepbrother sat on his bed and glared at him. It was already 9:25 PM and Charles tried to ignore the panic that was rising in his chest. He should be leaving very soon.

‘…. _Why’s he looking at the clock so much? If he thinks I’m gonna let him sneak out again…’_

Charles held back a sigh at Cain’s thoughts. Cain might be a lot of things but stupid wasn’t one of them. How the hell was Charles supposed to sneak past him? He tried focusing his attention on the book in front of him but it was hard when the other’s thoughts were so _loud_.

‘… _bet it’s Lehnsherr again. Stupid punk..’_

It took a lot of self-control not to look up at Cain at that one. Instead he tried thinking of possible ways to leave the apartment without anyone noticing. It would have been easier if his stepfather had been home too. When both were home, Cain and Kurt tended to just assume that the other one was keeping an eye on Charles. With Kurt out of the apartment Cain was very focused on keeping every bit of his attention on Charles who in return had to be on his best behavior to keep the peace.

If only Cain would leave. If only he would stop staring at him so intensely. There had to be a way, Charles thought desperately.

He fixated every bit of his attention on Cain’s mind. There had to be something that could make Cain lose interest in his given task. He listened carefully to Cain’s thoughts. He clearly wasn’t happy being stuck here with Charles. He’d been invited to some kind of drinking event and he was very frustrated with his father for making him babysit.

‘ **You should go’** Charles tried insisting into to the other’s mind. Cain looked around the room in confusion while Charles did his best to keep his gaze on his book. He could _feel_ Cain’s mind in his own consciousness, as real and touchable as the book in front of him.

 **‘Charles isn’t going anywhere. Just go. No one will know’** He tried again, mentally wrapping the idea around Cain’s mind, molding it into the other’s thoughts.

**‘Nothing’s gonna happen’**

After a few more attempts from Charles there was really no telling the difference between Cain’s thoughts and Charles’ suggestions.

**‘Just go’**

Cain got up from Charles’ bed abruptly. Charles looked up to see the larger boy stare at him with a determined look in his eyes.

“You’re staying here,” he said. It didn’t sound like an order or a question, just an observation. He pointed threatening finger at Charles. “You’re going straight to bed when you’re done.”

Charles nodded as timidly as he could muster, mesmerized by his newly discovered power. Cain left the room immediately and soon Charles heard the sound of keys unlocking and locking the front door. Charles waited until he could see Cain turn around the corner from his window before jumping to his feet. He pulled a large hoodie over his head and left.

Before long he was out on the street and faced with a new problem: He could not for the life of him remember which way the shop was. The last and only time he’d been there, he had been in so much pain he couldn’t pay attention. Where had Logan taken him? He tried to remember at least which direction but came up short. Then he heard something.

‘ _… Logan could have been a little more specific about this kid’s location…’_

_‘… been walking for almost forty-five minutes! ...’_

Charles had turned his head towards the two approaching figures at the sound of Logan’s name in their minds. He quickly recognized the tall muscular blond complaining about walking for too long.

“Alex?”

The person in question lifted his head as he recognized his name and cracked a huge smile.

“There you are!” he exclaimed excitedly before turning to the tall and lanky boy next to him. “See, told ya this was the place.”

“Sure, after we ruled out the entire rest of the city,” the other mumbled and adjusted his glasses before holding out his hand. “You must be Charles. I’m Hank.”

Charles shook Hank’s hand and smiled politely. “Nice to meet you.”

“Logan figured you probably wouldn’t be able to remember the way since… you know,” Alex said and shrugged his shoulders. Charles nodded gratefully.

“Well, he wasn’t entirely wrong,” he agreed and followed the two as they began walking away from the apartment block. It took less than twenty minutes before they reached the shoe shop and Charles wondered just what direction Hank and Alex had gone.

The inside of the shop hadn’t changed much, except now there were two strange teenagers standing near Logan. One of them was a pretty blond girl dressed in a rather tight dress and a leather jacket, looking thoroughly bored. The other was a young redheaded boy stacking a bunch of shoeboxes into a pyramid.

“Found him,” Alex called out as they entered.

“Took you a while,” the girl said and flipped her hair back. “Logan said he lived nearby.”

“Well, then Logan should have given more specific instructions,” Alex spat back.

“Not my fault you have no sense of direction,” said Logan as he approached the newcomers. He nodded his head in greeting at Charles before gesturing the boys to sit somewhere. Charles looked around the room and couldn’t help but wonder why Logan was the only one present who was not a teenager.

“All right, first things first,” Logan started and turned to Charles. “Charles, you already met Alex and now Hank. That just leaves Raven and – _SEAN, STOP PILING BOXES_!”

Turning to the boy, Sean, Charles was impressed to see him now having climbed to the top of a shelf to continue building his pyramid tall enough to touch the ceiling. Sean grinned goofily and jumped to the floor.

“I was bored,” he shrugged before sitting down when Logan’s glare got too heavy.

“Alright,” Logan tried again. “I’ve asked you all to come tonight because you’re changing and I’m thinking you have questions that I have answers for.”

He looked around the room, eyes landing on Hank’s raised hand.

“Yes?”

“Why do those people want to kill us?” the bespectacled boy asked. The other teens nodded eagerly.

“Yeah! They just as different as us!” Raven agreed and then blushed when all eyes were suddenly on her. “Well, it’s not like they’re normal either!”

Logan sighed irritable and grabbed his already lit cigar from the ashtray on the counter. Inhaling the smoke deeply, Charles could hear the man counting to ten mentally.

“You’re right. They’re not normal. But they’re not like us either,” the man spoke around his cigar. “We usually referred to them as the redwings.”

“Why?” Charles wondered out loud. He’d seen red claws, sure, but did they have wings too?

“’Cause we weren’t very creative,” Logan said dryly. Raven snorted.

“Who’s _we_?” asked Sean from behind a new pile of boxes. Logan fell silent for a while, a sorrowful look in his eyes.

“The ones before you,” the man said. “And the ones before them.”

“What do you mean?” Raven asked with a frown.

“It happens every thirteen years, for some reason. A group of young people, always around your age, start changing,” Logan explained. “Starts out with the chest pains.” The group of teens winced at the memory. “Then come the powers. And then the wings.”

“But why do the... _redwings_ want to kill us?” Hank asked again, subconsciously rubbing his chest.

“Because of this,” Logan said and pulled something out of his jacket pocket. He held out his hand for the teens to see a fist-sized jewel, red as blood. The teens all leaned closer in simultaneous awe.

“What is it?” Charles asked breathlessly. Logan eyed him sadly.

“This is the reason your chests have been hurting,” he said. “Every thirteen years, a bunch of kids’ hearts start changing. And every thirteen years a new group of redwings appear to hunt the kids down and rip out their hearts, which obviously kills them. Sadly, they don’t go down as easy as we do, so they outnumber us quite a bit by now.”

Charles had unconsciously lifted his hand to his heart as he remembered the poor girl in the dumpster, the poor girl with the gaping hole in her chest.

“What do they want our hearts for?” he asked in a tiny voice that only Logan appeared to hear.

“From what I’ve gathered, there’re several reasons,” the man answered. “Apparently they have strong healing abilities once removed which obviously make them worth quite a bit of money. But mostly I think it’s because they believe they can harvest our new abilities and feed off our energy.”

A grave silence had spread throughout the shop. Most of the teenagers had paled considerably at the thought of having their hearts pulled out, and Charles could see from flashes of memories streaming off the others that he wasn’t the only one who’d stumbled upon a dead person with a hole in its chest.

“Where are the others? From _your_ time?” Alex asked with a face that spoke of not really wanting to hear the answer.

“Gone” Logan said. “I’m the only survivor from my group, twenty six years ago.”

“Who was that?” Charles asked as he returned his gaze to the stone heart in Logan’s palm. Logan’s eyes grew distant and Charles thought he saw flashes of red hair and green eyes.

“A friend,” he answered.


	6. Hunted

_(Charles’ POV)_

Upon noticing the dark circles under Alex’ eyes, Charles had insisted he was perfectly capable of finding his way home on his own. He was severely questioning his decision now. Having just heard Logan’s story, Charles was feeling rather paranoid, and the added feeling of dread for whatever consequences he might be facing for sneaking out wasn’t helping. He still had painful dark bruises from the last time he’d snuck out and he was really hoping to avoid a repeat. If he was lucky neither Kurt nor Cain would be home yet.

Then again, Charles wasn’t exactly what you might call _lucky_ , a theory proven when he felt a dangerous tug on his heart that made him stop up in the middle of crossing the street.

_‘… Weak little creature. Can’t even sense me until I’m right in front of you…’_

Charles looked to the voice and saw the scary woman from the subway. She stood on the other side of the street, patiently waiting for him.

**‘Ah, so you finally noticed’** she spoke to his mind with an evil smirk. Charles’ eyes widened. _How could she possibly do that?_

**‘Same way you do. Now be a good boy and let me finish my job’**

Had Charles been smarter he would have run the second he felt the presence. Now she was nearing him fast with a mocking grin, and he was absolutely frozen. He was momentarily blinded by the headlights of a forthcoming car, and it shook him out of his frozen state enough to jump back.

“Get off the damn street!!” the driver yelled before disappearing.

Charles took advantage of the situation and ran before the woman removed her gaze from the car. Making as many turns as possible, he cringed at the tug on his heart that told him she wasn’t far behind. At least the actual chest pains had stopped since the night he’d grown wings.

Charles wasn’t a fast runner, at all, but at least he wasn’t clumsy, and he prayed that at least that fact would make him able to get away from that… _thing._

**‘Please. Call me Emma’** she teased in his head.

Charles shook his head violently and nearly hit a street sign because of it. How close was she?! He knew it would be stupid to run home. If he did, they would know where he was most hours of every day. Making a quick decision he turned left and headed for the park. Maybe he could hide or something. His breathing was becoming shallow and he knew he couldn’t run on pure adrenalin forever. He crossed an empty playground and in his hurry nearly stumbled over an abandoned basketball.

An inner uneasiness told him he couldn’t relax quite yet, and he really wished he hadn’t turned down Alex’ offer of walking him home. He looked behind to see if he was being followed. He didn’t see anyone.

_SLAM_

Charles fell to the ground. He was so sure he’d outrun Emma. Looking up in panic, he tried to find that spot in his mind he could use to defend himself when…

“Charles?”

“Erik!” he cried out in relief as the taller boy held out a hand to help him up.

“What are you doing here?” he asked as he got off the ground.

_‘… I could ask you the same?...’_

“On my way home,” Erik asked, still holding on to Charles hand. “What are _you_ doing out here? I almost never see you outside this late.”

“I … um … just felt like walking, I guess,” Charles answered lamely, feeling the strong doubt in the other’s mind. He turned to look behind one more time but still saw no sign of the dangerous woman. He sighed in relief.

“Want me to walk you home?” Erik asked as he sensed Charles’ obvious unease. Charles let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

“Sure,” he smiled before adding, “if it’s not too much trouble.”

“It’s not,” Erik grinned as they began walking in the direction of Charles’ home.

Charles felt like he should somehow feel a little guilty about letting Erik walk him home. Surely it was a little selfish to expose Erik to whatever danger Charles might encounter on the way. Not that it mattered in reality. He felt far too exposed and vulnerable alone to give up whatever comfort Erik’s company brought.

The air had turned chilly as the night grew darker and Charles was starting to regret his choice of hoodie. He really should have picked a jacket instead, or a jacket _and_ a hoodie. That sounded nice. Nice and warm.

“Aren’t you cold?” Erik asked next to him, noticing the poor choice of outerwear.

“A little,” he answered and looked away. He didn’t like people worrying about him, it felt too unfamiliar. “It’s no big deal.”

“Sure it is,” Erik said and took off his leather jacket before handing it to Charles who shook his head vigorously at the gesture.

“That’s ridiculous. Then you’ll be cold!”

“I’m not easily affected by cold temperatures,” he answered, still patiently holding his jacket out for Charles to take. Charles smiled at the gesture and resignedly put on the offered extra layer of protection from the weather. The jacket was a little big on him but it was warm and smelled like Erik so he wasn’t about to complain.

Though Charles could feel Erik’s questions to his whereabouts, they walked in silence the rest of the way to Charles’ apartment. The lights of his home shone out towards the streets and Charles could feel the presence of an angry mind pacing the rooms.

He gulped. It was Kurt. He knew Cain had left Charles unattended, and that Charles had taken that opportunity to sneak out. He was in so much trouble. Erik eyed him carefully.

“Something wrong?” Erik asked as Charles handed him back his jacket.

Charles shook his head and put on his best calm face. “No, no. Everything’s fine…”

Maybe he should just stay out on the streets forever, he thought. Maybe he could sneak back to the shoe shop and just stay there for a while, or forever. He absentmindedly rubbed his bruised wrist. Erik watched him closely.

_‘…look scared?.. something’s gotta be wrong .. I should really…’_

Erik’s suspicions brought Charles back to reality like a bucket of ice water.

“I should probably go inside,” he smiled pleasantly. “Thank you, Erik, for walking me home.”

“My pleasure,” Erik said in such a purring deep voice it actually caused Charles to shiver from more than the cold.

 

* * *

 

_(Erik’s POV)_

Erik had expected this night to just as horrible as the last ones. He’d felt his senses explode at the scent of a crystalizing heart near him. He’d felt Emma’s presence in his mind this time, telling him to back off. This one was hers. Apparently, this one had telepathic powers similar to hers and it made him more of a thread to anyone who wasn’t … well, her. He’d accepted her decision to hunt down the heart alone and put his nose plugs back in. He didn’t want to be a part of this at all. At least that’s what he told himself as he continuously circled the area.

Then he’d felt it. The pull towards the park and he’d almost completely lost himself to the beast within when he ran into Charles, looking scared and frantic.

It had saved his night, truly, and he was still smiling at the boy’s back as he made his way into the building he claimed to live in. It didn’t _really_ feel right to Erik. Not just the worried look on Charles’ face, but the place itself. It wasn’t at all what Erik pictured someone like Charles to live in. He’d always imagined Charles to live in a big fancy house full of dusty old books and fireplaces. Yes, Charles definitely deserved a fireplace. Then maybe he wouldn’t be so cold and he’d stop wearing those big sweaters and hoodies. This place didn’t deserve Charles. The building was covered in graffiti and the stench of urine, and the neighborhood looked downright dangerous.

No, Charles did not belong here, Erik concluded as he left with a bad feeling in his gut and the smile vanishing from his face.


	7. First Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Charles met Erik

_(Charles’ POV)_

Charles had often wondered why it didn’t matter to him that Erik seemed dangerous. From the moment he’d first laid eyes on the other, Charles had picked up a strong aura of trouble that set off all alarms within his mind. But it didn’t matter how dangerous he looked. It didn’t matter how intimidated Charles felt around him. He’d still offered Erik his help back then.

* * *

 

It had been six month into the first year of high school. He’d seen Erik around school, sure, but he’d never thought for a second that he would approach him one day. Not until he was walking home from school one day without Cain, and he’d spotted Erik crouched against an alley wall. The tall brunet had been clutching his side and gasping, and as he turned slightly Charles had noticed the red fluid running down his hand.

Typically Charles was one to avoid all forms of confrontation and trouble but at the sight of Erik’s pained face he’d ignored his discomfort. He had to help.

“Are you alright?” he’d asked. Wild eyes had squinted up at him fiercely.

“Do I look alright?!” Erik had spat, causing Charles to jump at the tone.

Thankfully, he was used to harsh words and bad tempers so he didn’t leave. He made to help the other stand but Erik shook him off and instead used the dirty wall for support as he straightened himself. Blood was seeping through his shirt and Erik was clutching at the wound hard to stop the flow.

“Do you need me to call an ambulance?” Charles had asked cautiously. Erik had groaned in discomfort.

“N-no. I’ll be fine. Just, just gotta get home,” he’d answered as he tried to start walking. He didn’t make it far, though, before collapsing on the pavement. Charles had run to his side and started searching his back for his first aid kit. He always carried one on him in fear that one of his own wounds might start bleeding again.

“You have to treat it right away or you’re going to lose too much blood,” he’d reasoned as Erik had shied away from his helping hands.

Erik had eyed the bandages in Charles’ hands with caution before slowly removing his hand from his side. Charles had pulled up Erik’s blood-soaked shirt as carefully as he could and was relieved to see that the wound wasn’t actually all that deep. Knowing what to do from years of self-treatment Charles had applied pressure with a bandage and started dressing it. When he’d finally finished he’d looked up to see Erik studying him through half-closed eyes.

“Who are you?” Erik had asked.

“Excuse me?”

“You look familiar. What’s your name?” Erik had tried again, grabbing Charles’ chin gently with a shaky hand, examining every inch of his face.

“Ch-Charles,” he’d stammered as his cheeks turned red from the sudden touch. “Charles Xavier. We go to the same school.”

Erik had nodded at the information and leaned down close to Charles’ face.

“Well, thank you, then, Charles,” he’d said and stroked Charles’ chin lightly before rising to his feet to leave. “I’m Erik.”

* * *

 

That had been the first time Charles had ever spoken to Erik, and while Erik might not have ever noticed Charles around the school before, he sure did afterwards. It seemed not a day passed without Erik suddenly showing up to talk to him. Not that he minded, but his friends had started to take notice and continued to tease him about it.

“He likes you,” Moira said for the hundredth time as they ate their lunch on the grass outside the gymnasium.

“Of course he does. We’re friends,” Charles mumbled, knowing it wasn’t what she’d meant.

“He _likes_ likes you, stupid,” Amy had joined in, wiggling her eyebrows. Charles snickered at the sight.

“Sure,” he said and rolled his eyes, really tired of having this conversation over and over again.

“Why else would he be looking at you like that,” Moira grinned.

“Like what?”

“Like _that_ ,” she said and nodded her head towards the brick wall near the parking lot. And sure enough Charles looked up and locked eyes with Erik. Erik grinned and Charles couldn’t stop himself from smiling back. It was almost a shame Amy and Moira were there. Erik might have actually come over if he’d been eating alone. He would have liked that. Catching himself thinking that thought, he shook his head and refocused his attention on his sandwich. The girls giggled.

“Well, at least we’re certain that _you_ like _him_ ,” Amy laughed. Moira eyed him.

“You really do, don’t you?” she asked.

Charles looked back to Erik who was typing something on his phone before looking up to flash Charles a tempting smile.

“Yes, I do.”

He felt his pocket vibrate and pulled out his dated phone. He’d received a text from a number he didn’t recognize.

_-Meet up after school? Erik -_

Charles smiled and dodged Moira’s attempts to grab his phone.

_-Sure.-_


	8. Good People

(Charles' POV)

Erik waited for him by the parking lot. Charles knew, of course. He was the one to plant the idea in Erik’s mind. He felt like he was getting better at controlling minds. He’d spent most of his day listening in on the other students’ thoughts and tried to keep the teachers from asking him any questions. It was actually quite difficult, as it turned out, to make someone look away from you. The first few times he’d tried it the teachers had focused every bit of their attention on him the second he placed his name in their mind. Apparently the ‘don’t notice’ didn’t make a difference. It was like telling someone _not_ to think of a purple elephant. He learned to distract them. Make them think of other students more.

That’s what gave him the idea of how to get rid of Cain for the day. It had only been mere seconds after he’d answered Erik’s text about meeting up that he remembered that his stepbrother wouldn’t allow it. After Charles’ little escape number the last time Kurt was out, the man had obviously told his son to never lose Charles completely out of sight again.

Charles had planted the idea of hanging out with his friends so deeply in Cain’s mind that the guy actually bolted out of his classroom to meet up with them. After that, planting the idea of meeting up in the parking lot in Erik’s mind seemed fairly easy.

“Hey,” Charles greeted him as he made his way to his side.

“Hey,” Erik grinned, then looked over his shoulder. “Your brother’s not walking you home today, is he?”

“No,” Charles smiled. “He had plans.”

Erik nodded, seemingly pleased with the answer. “Wanna go to the park?”

“The park?” Charles asked as he followed Erik.

“Yes.” Erik looked at him with a smile. “You don’t spend a lot of time outside school and home, do you?”

Charles shook his head. He really hadn’t. Since his mother’s departure, he really hadn’t done much other than going to school and studying at home.

“Don’t you get bored?” Erik asked. “Lonely?”

Charles averted his eyes to the ground. It was true, wasn’t it? Aside from the lunches with Amy and Moira and his talks with Erik, Charles didn’t really socialize. Not the way he used to at least. Charles used to spend lots of time with his classmates. He actually loved spending time with all sorts of people. People were interesting and they used to like him, too. But after Cain’s vigorous campaign of driving the majority of his peers away from him, Charles only really had the two girls left. And now Erik.

The best thing about Erik was probably that he didn’t wait for Cain’s stamp of approval. Erik didn’t seem to be intimidated by Charles’ stepbrother at all. Charles looked up to see Erik watching his facial expression attentively.

“Maybe a little,” Charles answered. He realized his tone was far sadder than he wanted this afternoon to be so he quickly fixed his face with a smile. He was happy after all. He got to spend time with Erik, the one person Cain probably couldn’t scare away.

“So,” he tried in his most cheerful voice as they entered the park. “What do you want to do?”

Erik smiled charmingly. “I wanna show you something.”

He reached for Charles’ hand and pulled the boy along with him towards the northern part of the park. Here in the afternoon the park was full of children playing and old ladies feeding birds, making for a cheerful mood all around the area. Charles smiled. Now that he’d finally found a way of manipulating Cain, he really should go out more.

Erik took him to a gathering of tall trees where he stopped, turned to Charles and held a finger to his lips. Taking the hint Charles stopped himself from asking what they were here for. He didn’t have to anyway because Erik pointed to somewhere near the trees in front of them. Charles squinted his eyes to see through the shadows and smiled when he finally saw what Erik had brought him to see.

At the foot of a much shorter tree sat three young girls who didn’t look much older than ten years old. They were seated around a big cardboard box with two tiny young squirrels in it. The girls had gathered all sorts of nuts and seeds in their uniform skirts and were now gingerly placing them in the box with the squirrels. Charles smiled at the endearing sight of the girls cooing at the animals.

“That’s adorable,” Charles said in a low voice to avoid disturbing the girls. He turned to Erik. “You knew they were here?”

“They’ve been here every day for the last two weeks,” Erik nodded. “Made me think of you.”

“Why?” Charles wondered out loud.

“Because it seemed like something you’d appreciate, something that you’d do.”

The answer made Charles glance up at Erik with curiosity. He’d wondered for a while why Erik seemed so intent on getting to know him. He decided now was as good a time as any to find out and asked the taller boy. Erik laughed, his whole face softening meanwhile.

“You’re kidding,” he said.

Charles shook his head. “I’m serious. Why me?”

Erik cocked his head to the side and smiled fondly at Charles, rubbing his thumb along the back of the hand he was still holding.

“Because I didn’t think people like you existed.”

“People like me?” Charles asked.

“Good people. Genuinely good people,” Erik answered. “People who care and go out of their way to help others. Honestly, I didn’t think there were any of those left. Most of humanity is so selfish and indifferent.”

“I’m sure there are lots of good people out there,” Charles said. Erik laughed and Charles smiled. Erik was so handsome when he laughed like that.

“Of course you’d believe that,” he whispered and looked down at their entwined hands, then glanced back up at Charles.

Charles’ phone rang loudly in his pocket, interrupting the intense eye contact that had erupted between the two. Erik let go of Charles’ hand so he could pick it up. Charles raised an interested eyebrow at the name on the screen.

“Hello.”

“Hey Kiddo,” Logan greeted. “We’re having a meet up at the store tonight at nine.”

“What for?” Charles asked curiously.

“Practice,” the man’s rough voice answered before hanging up abruptly.

Charles put the phone back in his pocket, then realized he had no idea what time it was so he pulled it back out again to check. He was late. Kurt would be home soon.

“You have to leave?” Erik guessed, sounding disappointed. Charles nodded sadly.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I have to be home before my stepfather.”

“Why?”

“We have an _agreement_ of sorts,” Charles shrugged.

Erik sighed but nodded in defeat as he began walking Charles home. Charles could feel Erik’s questions about his domestic issues rising to the surface of his mind and guessed it probably wouldn’t be all that long before he would start voicing them. They stopped just outside the apartment complex. Erik eyed the ugly greyish building with a frown. Then he looked back down to Charles. The question was coming. The tall brunet opened his mouth but Charles cut him off immediately.

“Don’t ask,” he pleaded. “Just … not now, please?”

Erik’s facial expression softened. “Okay.”

He stepped closer to Charles, planting a soft kiss on his lips.

“I won’t.”


	9. Talents

(Charles' POV)

”What am I thinking?” Sean asked for the seventh time that evening.

“Haven’t we done this enough?” Charles sighed. The redhead shook his head violently. “Fine, you’re thinking that cats are – quote – _arrogant bastards_.”

“Awesome!” Sean laughed again. “And true!”

Behind him Alex rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Dude, he already hears our thoughts perfectly fine. If he’s gonna get any better we gotta think of something else.”

Charles smiled in agreement. He was getting a bit tired of repeating Sean’s random moments of brilliance.

“You said you could put thoughts in people’s heads?” Alex asked curiously. Charles nodded and accepted the soda the boy offered him whilst interestedly following the train of thought in his head.

“So, in general you don’t just _hear_ what goes on in peoples mind, you can _meddle_ with it as well?” the blond asked. Charles nodded again.

“Isn’t the brain, like, responsible for just about all our senses,” he continued his train of thought. “And our moves.”

“Woaw, you mean Charles could move someone around like a puppet?” Sean asked loudly, looking disturbingly interested.

“Wasn’t really where I was going but sure…”

They both looked to Charles expectantly. He shook his head at them. “I don’t think I could do that just yet. Sounds like it would take a lot of force and I’ve only been able to _speak_ to peoples mind so far. Not to mention that I don’t _want_ to control people like that.”

“Why not?!” Sean whined as he sat himself back down on a pile of shoeboxes.

“Sounds a bit… violating,” he answered. “I wouldn’t do it.”

Sean still looked disappointed but at least Alex nodded in respectful understanding. Logan got up from his spot behind the counter to finally join the boys on their spot in the middle of the shop floor.

“Why don’t we try what you did to Blondie back in the subway?” the man asked.

“What did I do?” Charles asked, searching through both his own and Logan’s memories to find the answer.

He honestly didn’t remember doing much other than being scared, but in Logan’s mind he saw something different. He saw himself putting two fingers to his right temple and stretch out a hand towards the attacking Emma. Then he saw the change in the features of her face. How she clenched her head as she screamed in pain. And he finally understood. He’d done that. That’s why he’d gotten the weird feeling of having his mind stretched out across two different places. He’d been inside Emma’s brain and told it to be hurting.

“I really did that?” he mumbled to himself, equally awed and horrified. He could tell Sean and Alex were confused. They weren’t mind readers after all.

“You certainly did something,” Logan said around his cigar.

“Did _what_?” Sean and Alex asked simultaneously.

“He hurt the bitch with his mind,” Logan answered irritated. The two boys _aah_ ’ed in fascinated understanding.

“That sounds cool. Try that!” Sean said eagerly. Logan hit him on the back of his head.

“We’re not gonna start hurting each other just for practice,” the man growled.

“… you’re hurting _me_ ,” Sean mumbled and narrowly escaped another hit. Charles grinned. Weird as they might be, he was starting to like these people.

“Maybe we could go for another feeling than pain perhaps?” he proposed. The others nodded and he heard several suggestions in their heads.

“Make me blind!” Sean shouted enthusiastically. The others gave him weird looks. “I’ve always been curious if I could be like one of those bat-people who can see with their hearing, sonar style!”

Charles eyed Logan. The man just shrugged. Remembering the memory, he put two fingers to his temple and moved his mind into Sean’s head. He searched for the boy’s senses, which was a lot harder than finding the thoughts that seemed to jump at him.

Then he found it. It was like an entirely different part of the mind, the control panel underneath all the noisy thoughts and memories. An uncomfortable, warm sensation spread through his own mind. He tried telling the mind to not see. Nothing happened. Sean just looked at him expectantly. Charles closed his eyes and tried to imagine blindness. Blackness? He figured he could work with that. He imagined a heavy blanket of blackness wrap itself around Sean’s head and immediately he heard the boy gasp.

“It worked! I can’t see!!” he exclaimed happily. Then his face fell as he snapped his fingers next to his ears. “I can’t hear! I can’t hear either!”

Charles felt the boy’s horror and panic as real as was it his own.

**‘Sean. Calm your mind’**

“Charles? That’s you, right? Make it stop, please!” Sean pleaded. Alex looked worried and put a hand on the redhead’s shoulder.

**‘I’m here. Just calm down. I can already feel it slipping away’**

The boy took a deep breath and tried to do as he was told. For a few minutes everything was quiet as Charles tried to remove his mind completely from Sean’s. Then Sean’s eyes suddenly became focused again and a huge grin spread across his face.

“Charles, you freaking rule!” he shouted, and winced as he’d regained his hearing. “I want your powers!”

Charles laughed before wondering out loud. “What do _you_ do?”

Sean jumped to his feet and went behind the counter for a glass that he placed on top a shelf. He walked several steps away from it, looked to the others and winked.

“Aw, come on, man,” Alex protested. “We’re almost out of glasses.”

Sean grinned. “You might wanna cover your ears.”

Noting how the others obeyed immediately, Charles put his hands to his ears as well. Sean inhaled stiffly and abruptly exhaled in a painfully loud shriek. The glass shattered. The boy turned to the others and bowed theatrically.

“Your turn,” he grinned at the others.

Logan just lifted his hand lazily. As he clenched his fist three metal claws appears from his knuckles. He allowed Charles to look at them with wide eyes for a few minutes before retracting them again. Charles looked to Alex expectantly. The boy looked slightly terrified for a moment.

“Maybe you should just see what I do from my memory,” he said, looking embarrassed. “It’s not exactly indoor friendly.”

Charles did as he said and almost completely stopped breathing at the sight of strong burst of power erupting from the boy, destroying almost an entire neighborhood.

“Wow.”

“Yup,” Alex said and scratched the back of his head. He looked at his watch and sprang to his feet.

“Sorry guys, I need to go now.”

He waved at them halfheartedly and left the shop. Charles sensed a tangible sadness radiating off Sean next to him.

“He has to go visit his little brother in the hospital,” the redhead explained when he caught Charles looking. “He’s very sick and it doesn’t seem like he’s gonna get better.”

“Oh.”

Charles felt a horrible. He hadn’t even sensed that in the other. He hid it so well. The front door sprung open. Charles looked up, half expecting Alex to have come back. He hadn’t. Prancing though the door came Raven, looking very disheveled, with Hank and a dark-skinned boy behind her. Charles easily picked up the reason for their messy looks; they’d been attacked on their way and almost hadn’t escaped.

“Hi,” Raven greeted through her teeth as she settled before a mirror to start fixing her hair and makeup.

“Why don’t you just _change_ , Raven,” the newcomer asked teasingly. Charles raised an eyebrow.

“Fine!” she sneered and for a moment it seemed like every cell of her skin raised and turned. Suddenly she was a brunette with big green eyes and olive skin, looking flawless and intact. A smile formed on her newly reshaped lips when she noticed how Charles’ jaw had dropped.

“Oh, right,” she laughed. “You didn’t know I could do that.”

She stood and went to stand in the middle of the room. “Well, as promised, here’s the latest member of our exclusive little club, Darwin!”

The boy in question curtsied ironically. “Nice to meet you. Sorry about the delay.”

“What exactly did happen?” Charles asked after politely introducing himself.

“Half of them coming at us at once,” Hank whined. “Angel, Azazel _and_ Riptide!”

Charles gasped as he saw the images of the faces that flashed through Hank’s memory as he listed the names. He recognized Azazel to be the red-skinned man who once attacked him. The girl, Angel, wasn’t familiar but looked lethal none the less. What had made him gasp was the third one, Riptide. He knew that one. The dark-haired one with the intimidating grin, dark eyes and loud mouth: It was Erik’s friend Janos.


	10. Victorious

_(Charles' POV)_

He could feel the tension radiating off the apartment before he even put his key in the lock. Someone was very agitated inside. Charles briefly considered just turning around and never coming back but eventually he made up his mind and entered the apartment as silently as possible.

He didn’t have to. Cain had sat himself directly in front of the door and immediately jumped up to grab hold of Charles’ arm. He pulled his stepbrother inside and slammed the door shut harshly.

“Where the hell have you been?!” he growled into Charles’ face, positively trembling with disbelieving anger.

Charles stared at him in a state of mild awe. Something was different. For as long as he’d known him, Cain had been this giant figure of intimidation. Someone so big and powerful that no room ever seemed big enough.

Now Charles was only mildly uncomfortable, and slightly fascinated. He could _feel_ the impacts he’d already left in the other’s mind. He could see the control panel underneath his angry thoughts.

And he knew. He knew he was capable of doing just about whatever he wanted to Cain’s mind, probably before Cain could even act himself. It would be so incredibly easy.

And somehow Cain didn’t look so big and scary anymore.

“Out,” he answered the older teem calmly while sending a clear message to his brain, ‘ **Let go** _’._ Cain let go immediately, a confused look on his face. Charles almost smiled as he saw himself through Cain’s eyes. No trembling, no avoiding eye contact, no hesitation. He looked almost new. And he liked it.

Slipping past Cain he made his way into his room. He sensed Cain was about to snap out of his confusion, so he put two fingers to his temple and made the boy’s mind convince itself to go to bed.

When he heard the other’s bedroom door slam shut he smiled. Never before had he avoided confrontation so easily. Not that it was Cain who ever actually caused him physical pain. He just honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this empowered. He felt strong, safe and at ease. For the first time in a long time Charles fell asleep with a smile on his lips.

 

* * *

 

_(Erik’s POV)_

Something was different. Erik couldn’t quite put his finger on it at first but something about Charles had definitely changed. For one thing he entered the school alone, even though he was perfectly on time. He was also looking thoroughly well-rested and high-spirited. He watched the boy cross the parking lot with his head just a little higher than usual. When he caught sight of Erik he smiled broadly, making Erik smile in return.

“’Morning,” the smaller boy greeted him merrily.

“Good morning,” Erik smiled. “Sleep well?”

“Very,” Charles grinned as they walked through the doors together. He could see the two girls Charles usually hung out with giggling and nodding their heads in their direction. Charles sent them a look and they went inside the girls’ bathrooms. Stopping in front of Erik’s very unused locker Charles looked up at him with a strangely determinate look on his face.

“Could we, maybe, hang out … after school today?” the boy asked, blue eyes seemingly taking in every feature of Erik’s face.

“Absolutely,” Erik answered almost instantly. Charles smiled radiantly.

“Great!” he said, voice drowning slightly in the noise of the bell. “See you then.”

At this Charles turned and left for class – biology, if Erik’s memory served him right. Erik smirked at the boy’s back. Yes, something was definitely different about Charles. He liked it.

* * *

 

  _(Charles’ POV)_

‘ _... different about him…’_

Charles suppressed a laugh. It would seem Erik had picked up on his newfound confidence. He could easily sense that Erik liked it. Couldn’t blame him. Charles liked it too. He liked that he no longer felt vulnerable and inferior to everyone else. And he very much liked that his revived inner-strength now allowed him to keep eye contact with Erik, making him feel butterflies and shivers rather than unease and intimidation.

“Did you actually go to class today?” Charles asked after they had met up later. Erik smiled at his cheerful tone.

“No, not really,” he answered.

Charles cocked an eyebrow at that. He still couldn’t really see the point in coming to school if not to go to class. They had sat themselves by the foot of a large oak tree in the far back of the city park, watching the young girls taking care of the squirrels.

“Seriously, though,” Charles laughed. “Why do you go then? What do you do if you’re not in class?”

Erik looked at Charles who suppressed a shiver at the wave of affection he felt coming off him. He’d promised himself he would try his hardest not to listen to Erik’s thoughts but somehow it was impossible not to slip up when it came to the emotions. It was like they were colors, colors that were still visible when he shut off his inner hearing. Colors that rolled off Erik in waves that crashed into Charles’ own mind.

“Mostly I just sit around. By the wall, or in the library - I like the smell of books,” Erik explained.

“And why do you go?” Charles asked again, feeling like Erik had avoided his first question deliberately.

Erik didn’t answer at first, and Charles could feel his trouble in finding the words to formulate his answer in a way that only gave away exactly the amount of information he wanted it to. It was tempting to pry deeper into Erik’s mind for the answer, but Charles really did respect his privacy.

“I go because I need to. The school is a place of relaxation for me. It calms me down. Like a safe spot, I suppose,” he answered, speaking each word with much care before thoughtfully adding, “And you being there helps a lot, too.”

Charles pulled some grass though his fingers, trying to fight the blush that was no doubt making itself known on his face.

“Do I actually make that much of a difference, though?” he wondered aloud. A middle-aged woman had made her way to the girls by the squirrel box and was now ushering them home, leaving the two teenagers to themselves.

“Yes,” Erik answered Charles’ wondering promptly.

Another wave of affection came off Erik, crashing into Charles so hard he was momentarily stunned into forgetting to block his inner hearing. What he heard from Erik’s mind – every word of appreciation for Charles’ existence, personality, appearance, voice, eyes, lips – made him take enough advantage of his new confidence to lean up and press his lips to Erik’s.

Erik responded almost immediately, moving his lips against Charles’. Where they might have been butterflies before, his stomach suddenly felt like it was inhabited by doves. Erik gently pried his lips apart and the doves grew to eagles at the feeling of the strange tongue in Charles’ mouth. He felt a strong arm encircling his waist, pulling him closer, and he moved his hands into the other’s hair while allowing Erik to pull him onto his lap.

They pulled apart for air, faces just inches apart. Charles smiled uncertainly as he tried to decipher the look in Erik’s eyes. It felt … victorious. One of the hands on Charles’ back moved up to touch his face fondly and Charles leaned forward to rest his forehead on Erik’s. He grinned. He was feeling quite victorious himself.


	11. Skylines and Safe Havens

_(Charles' POV)_

Charles hadn’t tried to bring out his wings since that first time in the store. He could feel they were there, somewhere around his shoulder blades, even if he couldn’t see them. It didn’t make the idea of having them any more surreal, though. He had wondered if it would be less painful the second time around, less bloody. But even though Logan and Alex had assured him that was the case he was still cringing too hard at the memory of last time to actually test the theory.

That’s why he was filled with both dread and anticipation as he now stood on top of one of the largest buildings in the area. Next to him Raven stood with a face so pale it almost seemed like she was purposely altering her appearance again. This was her first real flight, too, and she was probably even more scared than Charles since she hadn’t felt the calm and confident thoughts coming off Alex, Sean and Hank.

The door to the stairway opened and Logan stepped back out onto the rooftop with the rest of them, setting a back of groceries down before making his way over to Raven and Charles.

“Darwin couldn’t get out of work so it’ll just be you two learning today,” Logan explained as they stared behind him to see if he was alone.

Charles nodded in understanding before casting another glance at the skyline of the city. He gulped. That sure was a _long_ way down.

“Alright, kiddos,” Logan barked impatiently. “Wings out. I trust you remember how.”

‘ _… like we could forget…’_ Raven thought and shuddered at the memory of bloodying up the girls’ locker rooms of her high school gym. Charles flashed her a reassuring smile but he could tell from her facial expression it did nothing to soothe her.

However, Raven was a brave soul. She shook off every fear and hesitation in her body, took a deep breath and as she willed it two triangles of light rose from her shoulder blades. In barely a second, the light had materialized into beautiful white wings. She flapped them tentatively, opening and closing them as a look of sheer pride made its way into her eyes. She turned expectantly to Charles with joyous laugh and encouraging thoughts.

‘… _didn’t hurt at all!...’_

Charles felt reassured but still took a couple of minutes before trying the same. As it turned out, it was even easier to pull out his wings than it was to enter someone’s mind. He barely had to think of the invisible lumps on his back before he could feel the heaviness of the wings weighing down his shoulder. Like Raven before him, he tested his control of the wings. It truly was like moving his arms or legs, completely natural.

Alex gave him a hard pat on the back in praise before taking off his shirt to conjure up his own wings. Charles felt a bit stupid for not thinking of that. Now he had yet another ruined shirt on his hands. Hank and Logan were quick to follow Alex’ lead and were now equally winged and shirtless.

“It’s a shame Darwin’s missing this,” Raven said as she took in the horizon.

“It’s alright, I told him to get used to the feeling of the wings at home,” Hank said. “He can just join us next time.”

“Can you feel if any of the Reds are close, kiddo?” Logan asked Charles, inhaling one last breath of his cigar before putting it out in his palm. The wound healed immediately. Charles closed his eyes and searched for familiar brains in the area.

“I’m not seeing anyone,” he said, ignoring the classmates he’d found.

Logan nodded and stepped to the edge of the building. A fence had been set up to prevent jumpers but Logan cut a large hole easily with the three claws of his right hand. Did he really have _two_ talents, Charles wondered.

As soon as the hole was made, Sean roared excitedly and ran to the edge. He leaped and Charles gasped as the boy disappeared, only to reappear again moments later, carried by his wings.

Alex grinned and followed him over the edge. Hank smiled timidly at Raven and offered to take her hand. She ignored it and ran to jump herself, full of confidence. Hank shrugged and followed her close after, yelling at her to move the wings a certain way. It didn’t seem necessary, though, as she was already soaring higher than any of the flying boys.

Logan sent Charles the impatient look of someone who had unwillingly become a teacher and would quite like it to be over with. Charles bowed his head in comprehension and hesitantly made his way to the edge. Sean and Raven were currently in competition over who could reach the highest point, while Alex and Hank were just cruising around. He took a deep breath and stared down. He could feel the pull in his wings at the sight. He honestly couldn’t believe that he was about to do this. He jumped.

For half a second he genuinely thought he was going to die. Then the wings spread out on their own accord and with just a few flaps of the wings he had joined the others.

Charles had never been intimidated by heights. They fascinated him. Today was no exception. He flew so high up that he couldn’t even see the people on the streets. The birds around him eyed him with both caution and curiosity as he flew in a big circle to take it all in. Raven soon joined him in exploring the skies and he could feel her excitement and awe coming at him. Charles grinned. This was amazing.

 

* * *

 

_(Erik’s POV)_

_This was amazing._ There was really no other word for it. Erik couldn’t even lose the smug grin on his face as he sat by the wall with Charles curled up against his side. He didn’t even care that his friends sent him mocking looks from the other side of the schoolyard that he’d banished them to. Remy walked past him on his way to the parking lot, smirking at him.

The only one of his friends who wasn’t there to mock or encourage him was Janos. He didn’t come to school anymore.

Janos wasn’t disgusted with his monstrous second nature the way Erik was with his. Quite the opposite. He’d accepted the new him. He’d stopped coming to school, saying that he didn’t need to be there since he already knew what he was going to do with his life, with his new self: Riptide.

Erik clearly remembered the first time he’d seen his friend on his doorstep covered in some poor soul’s blood with a rock-hard heart in his hand. Erik had been both mortified at the sight and relieved he knew someone who shared the same fate as himself.

It was Janos who’d introduced him to the others: the ice-cold telepath Emma, the red-skinned transporter Azazel and the young exotic dancer Angel. Where Janos had fit in with the group almost immediately, Erik had much more difficulty accepting the fact that he was even the slightest bit similar to these murderous sadists.

Erik cringed at the memory of the confrontation that had followed when he’d voiced his opinion on the matter. Azazel had been over him before he could even think about defending himself, and he only narrowly escaped when Janos had made an effort to separate the two.

Erik’s grip around Charles’ waist tightened a bit. That was how they had met. He’d left the others with a gory-looking wound in his side, tumbling through the streets past indifferent strangers until he’d met Charles. Gentle, kind-hearted Charles.

He’d been so mystified by the boy’s actions. Very few of the people in his life would be that anxious to help him had they been in Charles’ place, yet here was a person willing to get his hands bloody helping a complete stranger. He’d been so fascinated by the sweet boy with the big blue eyes that he’d made a promise to himself that he would get to know him.

It kept him coming back to school. Which was good since it was one of the few public places the other murderous freaks left alone. It was a safe haven for him to feel human again. At least if he tried. He had trained himself to not use his sense of smell, clogging his nostrils when necessary. Any one of the students of this school’s halls could be the possessor of a crystalizing heart, and if he ever caught their scent he would lose control. It would be the end of his safe haven. The end of his last place of humanity.


	12. Powerful

_(Charles' POV)_

Maybe he was getting too confident. His stepfather had ignored him for quite a while but Charles’ recent behavior didn’t exactly qualify as staying under the radar anymore. In the last two weeks he’d been going out every night to spend time with Erik, and by the end of Week Two it had become such a solid habit that he completely forgot to be silent about it.

After having been walked home by Erik, he was too caught up in his own happy bubble to pay attention to what he was doing. The goodbye kiss had clouded his head so much he didn’t notice the noise he made when he entered the apartment.

He didn’t even make it to his room. Kurt had him slammed up against the wall with a strong hand around his throat before he could even register that he was there.

“Where the hell have you been, boy?” the man snarled.

Charles gasped and the grip around his neck tightened. He internally screamed and begged to the man’s mind to release him but he was too shocked to truly focus. His stepfather’s sudden presence had caught him so much off guard that he couldn’t quite reach the right place in the other’s mind. His own mind was far too shaken up to control someone else’s.

Kurt saw him pale at the lack of oxygen and opened his hand just enough for Charles to get a little air. To even out the ‘nice’ gesture he slammed the boy harshly into the wall again, hurting his back.

“We have rules!” Kurt continued now that he’d established that Charles wasn’t about to die. “We’ve been over them hundreds of times, boy! Just how many times have you been running off lately? Actions like that have consequences, don’t you know?!”

A fist collided with his stomach. Of course. No matter how much he clearly wanted to, Kurt wasn’t dumb enough to injure Charles’ face. A bruised face drew too much attention. He let go of Charles’ neck and the boy fell to the ground, the wind completely knocked out of him. His eyes watered up as he tried to regain his breath.

This shouldn’t happen. Not anymore. Charles felt something he’d never felt in these situations before. He felt rage. Rage towards the man hovering over him, waiting for him to get up and take the next hit like he’d taught him to.

‘ _… need to keep him down now or everything will have been for nothing…’_

Charles’ eyes widened as the thought he’d picked up from Kurt’s mind had been accompanied by the image of a wide-eyed woman looking absolutely terrified. Charles recognized her immediately. After all, what boy doesn’t recognize his own mother?

The rage within him boiled over and before he could think of doing something smarter and more discreet, his hands flew to his temple and he released the black darkness he’d created on Kurt. The man’s eyes lost focus and he yelped at the sudden loss of his senses. Charles wasn’t done. He didn’t know what the image of his frightened mother had meant and he wasn’t sure he was ready to know yet either. All he knew was that he was absolutely certain that the man she had been so terrified of was the same one now falling to his knees in front of her son.

 **‘Pain’** he ordered the man’s mind. **‘Great and unstoppable pain!’**

Kurt screamed out in agony when his mind told him of the pain that was now hurting him. Charles stood and looked down on the man writhing in torment. The screams and yells filled the apartment, making him certain that Cain was definitely not home.

Charles felt oddly numb. He’d released all his anger into his attack, all the frustration that had built up over the years, and now he watched it avenge him before his eyes. The numbness left and Charles felt dread and horror take its place. He shouldn’t have.

**‘This never happened! You’re dreaming!’**

He grabbed his keys from the floor and fled out the door. He wasn’t sure his last command had even registered with Kurt but for the moment he couldn’t bring himself to care. What he’d done was wrong. No matter the circumstances, it was wrong. So incredibly wrong. And even worse, Charles felt terrified that he was able to do it. He was afraid of himself, of what he could do. No one should have that power.

It was raining now, and the water soaked through Charles hoodie and jeans as he ran the streets. When he finally couldn’t run anymore, he was so far away from home he couldn’t even feel Kurt’s mind anymore. He collapsed down onto a bench and worked hard to calm his breathing down to a reasonable state.

He pulled his phone out and shakily dialed Erik’s number. It barely rang once. Charles wasn’t entirely sure what he had said or what Erik had responded but in less than ten minutes he was wrapped up in a pair of strong arms.

“Hey. It’s okay. Sssh, I got you,” Erik whispered reassuringly into his ear. “What happened?”

Charles didn’t answer. He clung to the other pathetically, absorbing every bit of comfort he could. Erik rubbed his back soothingly and Charles winced when he accidentally touched the spot that had collided with the wall earlier.

Erik noticed and pulled back to look at Charles’ face. He opened his mouth to ask but Charles shook his head in dismissal. Erik frowned and Charles knew he wouldn’t be able to postpone the topic for very much longer.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” Erik asked gently, brushing strands of wet hair out of Charles’ face.

“No!” The answer came fast and forcefully. Erik raised an eyebrow and Charles knew he was figuring out what was upsetting him.

“Do you want to go to my place then?” he tried. “You’re drenched to the bone.”

Charles only had to think about it briefly since a cold wind against his wet back made up his mind for him. He nodded. Erik smiled, kissed him quickly and took his hand as he started walking in the direction of his home.

Charles was a bit annoyed with himself. He felt so small, _again._ Erik tried talking to him all the way to his home but Charles was too caught up in pulling himself back together to fully engage in the conversation.

Erik lived very near their high school in a red brick apartment complex that appeared to be fairly new. Charles knew from adds in the newspaper that the buildings in this area mostly consisted of studios or two bedroom apartments. He’d often fantasized about running away from home and living in one of them.

“You live alone?” he guessed. Erik nodded.

“Yeah, my mother moved back to Germany to take care of her brother. I wanted to stay so I got this apartment,” he explained and unlocked the door.

Behind the door was a small studio apartment. There wasn’t a whole lot of furniture. Aside from a tiny kitchen, there was just a sofa bed, a TV, a dresser and a coffee table. Erik gestured for Charles to sit down on the sofa bed, so he did. The taller teen searched through the drawers of his dresser for a while before tossing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans to Charles. Erik turned his back on Charles and began messing around in his kitchen, giving Charles time to change into the dry clothes. Still not feeling entirely comfortable, Charles turned his back to Erik while he first stripped out of the wet jeans and stepped quickly into dry ones. When he pulled his hoodie over his head he jumped as he felt a cold hand on the sore spot on his back. He turned his face around to Erik’s quickly to see sad and angry eyes looking back at him.

“Charles, who’s doing that to you?” he asked and when the boy opened his mouth he added. “And don’t lie and say it was an accident ‘cause you’re nowhere near clumsy enough to have this many bruises.”

Charles bit his lip. He’d honestly imagined it to be much easier to tell Erik. He cared about him so much. He trusted him, felt safe around him. Why was he suddenly so incapable of speaking?

“It’s Cain, right? I swear to God-“

“It’s not!” Charles interrupted. “He doesn’t even care that I exist. The only reason he’s always breathing down my neck is because his father tells him to.”

“So it’s his father, is that it?” Erik asked. Charles nodded and shivered at the dark look in his eyes. He looked downright murderous for a moment before he glanced down at Charles torso, eyes resting on the red mark on his stomach.

“We need to-“ Erik began.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Charles begged. “Not tonight.”

Erik didn’t look like he wanted to let the subject go but eventually caved under Charles’ pleading eyes and softly traced the outline of the mark, making Charles far too aware of the fact that he was half naked. Erik’s other hand went up to his face and rested on his cheek before he leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips.

At a loss to explain the comfort it brought him, Charles reached his arms around the taller boy’s shoulders and returned the kiss that Erik deepened when he felt the smaller teen’s body pressing against his own.

Charles was briefly aware of being pushed down onto the sofa bed before he was distracted by the emotions he felt rolling off Erik. Such sweet feelings of love, want and lust collided with the ones in his own head, amplifying them to a near unbearable extent. One of Erik’s hands ran its fingers through Charles’ thick hair, guiding their faces even closer to each other. The other hand trailed down Charles’ torso, making him gasp into Erik’s mouth and tighten his grip on the other. He felt entirely too warm for someone bare-chested.

Erik pulled away slightly and Charles whined. The boy on top grinned down at the other with dark eyes and a smirk that grew increasingly improper as he took in the sight of Charles underneath him.

The taller boy pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. Charles felt his face heat up at where this was heading, but he didn’t mind. He wanted to feel Erik’s skin on his own, just the way he felt their emotions intertwining.

He sat up impatiently and threw his arms around Erik’s neck, joining their lips again. Warm hands moved up his back and he arched into the touch. The heat became more intense as their chests pressed against each other. Erik rolled his hips against him once and Charles moaned into his mouth. Erik pulled back from his mouth to look into Charles’ eyes, questioningly and uncertain.

“If you wanna stop, we can,” Erik spoke.

“ _God, no_ ,” Charles said, inwardly cringing at how needy his voice sounded.

Erik smirked and gently pushed Charles back down on his bed. His hands moved downwards to release them both from their jeans and underwear. Charles lifted his hips to assist in removing his clothes and hissed as a cold breath of air hit his heated skin. Erik ran a hand up his thigh, efficiently eliminating any feelings of coldness from his body. He began kissing down Charles’ neck and collarbone, seemingly enjoying the soft pants it earned him.

Charles jerked his hips up and Erik groaned, letting Charles feel that his partner was just as excited as him. Erik went back to his face to catch his lips a bit harsher than last time. They moved against each other in a messy rhythm and Charles felt Erik’s hands grab the back of his thighs, making the hardening situation below downright unbearable.

He knew Erik felt it, too. He could feel the lust no longer confined to Erik’s mind as the other boy leaned over to the bottom drawer of the dresser and returned with a bottle of lube. Erik’s eyes searched his own for permission one last time and Charles nodded.

He knew he was making noises as Erik’s hand went down to brush against his length, but he was deaf to anything other than the sound of his own rapid heartbeat. But sensations Erik’s one hand brought him still distracted him so much he hardly noticed the other hand moving in between his legs and the lubed digit pushing into him. Uncomfortable as it was, it was quickly forgotten in the daze of pleasure.

He grimaced as another intrusion was added but relaxed into the warm affection he felt around him. He wasn’t sure if he was feeling his own emotions or Erik’s anymore. It was hard to differentiate and it honestly didn’t matter that much to him anymore. He had no doubt that Erik cared for him, that he wanted him. He let out a hiss as a third finger joined the first two but surrendered himself to the feeling.

He hadn’t realized that he’d closed his eyes until he felt Erik’s stare. He opened his eyes to gaze into ones so passionate his breathing stopped for a second. Erik was beautiful like this; so intense and powerful, and so completely focused on Charles.

He watched every inch of Charles’ face as he removed his fingers from his body. Charles’ face should have been burning with embarrassment under the heavy gaze, but it wasn’t. All he could do was stare back in captivation at the older teen above him.

He could vaguely feel Erik’s consciousness looking for signs that Charles wanted to stop, but Charles flashed him what he hoped to be a reassuring smile and traced the his jaw gingerly with a trembling finger. Erik angled his face to touch his lips to Charles’ finger, giving it a small kiss before he pushed himself into Charles’ body. The smaller teen gasped at the intrusion.

“Are you okay?” Erik asked worriedly, staying as still as he could.

Charles nodded. He had too much trouble breathing to say anything. It was quite overwhelming, being that close to another person, both physically and mentally. He finally found his voice when he realized Erik needed verbal consent to continue.

“I’m fine. You can…”

He didn’t finish the sentence but Erik caught the meaning and leaned down to bury his face in Charles’ neck as he started moving his hips. Though it was uncomfortable and painful at first, it turned pleasurable. Charles moved his hips to meet the thrusts and whimpered as Erik shifted and hit a spot that made him briefly lose his vision.

His legs tightened around Erik when he could hear the other’s moans in his ear on top of also feeling some very _intense_ emotions rolling off him. He knew he was making some rather loud noises too. Hell, he could feel the neighbor’s mind waking up. It was just very hard to care about other people when Erik’s hand trailed back in between them to stroke him again. He bothered the neighbor one final time, moaning loudly as he came. He felt Erik smirk into his neck and thrust a couple more times before releasing inside Charles who marveled at the odd sensation of being filled.

Erik slumped ungracefully down next to him, curling around him while radiating such heavy affection that Charles felt his eyes water. He had needed this. He had felt so unwanted and uncared for the last few years, his whole body ached to be held.

Despite a soreness building up in his body, he fell asleep feeling better than he had


	13. Too Good to be True

_(Erik's POV)_

It had to have been a dream. Nothing this good could possibly have happened to _him_. Yet, looking at the naked boy sleeping next to him, it had to be. He ran a tentative hand through Charles’ hair to assure himself that he was real. Charles sighed in his sleep and nuzzled his face further into Erik’s only pillow. Erik’s eyes wandered over the boy’s sleeping form and he frowned at the sight of the marks on his back. Charles was hurt and it was his stepfather’s fault.

The monster roaming inside him wanted to make him pay for it. Wanted to tear the man apart piece by piece and burn the remains. The rational part of his mind didn’t think it too great an idea, though, so he discarded the plan temporarily. He sighed and closed his eyes in an attempt to relax, but no sooner than he’d closed his eyes did he sit up violently.

 _Not now!_ He winced as the monster growled and scratched at the inside of his mind. Prey was near. Very near. And the monster wanted out. Erik clenched his sheet and tried to will the urge to hunt away. He couldn’t let this happen now, not with Charles this close by. What if he saw? Surely, he would never feel safe around him again.

He took deep breaths through his mouth and pushed the nose plugs further up his nostrils. He hadn’t allowed himself access to his sense of smell in a long time. Once the scent of prey hit him, he lost every ounce of control as the monster took over. He managed to push the monster down. He wasn’t willing to screw up this moment. It was far too perfect.

“Something wrong?” Charles’ groggy voice came next to him.

“No,” Erik said as he lay down and pulled the boy close, all worries about monsters gone. “Everything’s perfect.” The monster growled and he cradled Charles even closer.

 

* * *

 

_(Charles' POV)_

“This is a bad idea,” Erik told him for the tenth time as they left school to head in the direction of Charles’ home. Charles sent him an encouraging smile but he wasn’t sure he even convinced himself.

“I have to come home eventually,” he said while preparing himself for the task of persuading his stepfather and Cain that he had in fact been home the three days he’d spent in Erik’s apartment.

“Why?” Erik asked in disbelief. “Can’t you just _move_?”

Charles smiled sadly and shook his head. He wasn’t like Erik. He couldn’t just move out and stand on his own. The taller boy scoffed.

“What about your mom? Surely you can convince her that you’d be better off somewhere else,” he tried.

“… It’s not that simple…” Charles muttered.

The memory of his mother from Kurt’s head came back full force. She had looked so scared, and it bothered Charles that he actually didn’t really know if she was okay. Kurt kept telling him she was in England with their relatives but he’d never received a single phone call or letter from her to confirm it. His stomach dropped as he came to terms with the idea that Kurt was probably lying.

Erik seemed to have picked up on the change in Charles’ mood and put an arm around his shoulders. Charles could feel Erik’s mind wanting to question him about the situation so he changed the topic.

“How about I call you later tonight and we can go for a walk or something?” Charles suggested.

He could tell Erik would need some kind of confirmation that Charles was going to be okay at home. Erik still looked like he wanted to drag him in the other direction. They stopped in front of the depressing block of concrete he called home. Erik glared at the building.

“I’ll be okay. Promise,” Charles smiled and awkwardly pushed the way-too-long sleeves of Erik’s shirt back from his hands. He’d have to return the clothes eventually, but for now he quite liked wearing them.

“…Fine,” Erik begrudgingly agreed, pulling Charles flush against him.

Charles slipped his arms around his now-boyfriend and relaxed in the comfort of the embrace. It’s funny how a pair of stronger arms around you can make you feel all tiny and protected. He could feel a strong mix of worry and affection coming off Erik so he sent waves of comfort into his mind.

Erik released him when his mind was finally calm. Charles kissed him goodbye and flashed him a final smile before entering the building. He knew Cain was home and decided to begin the manipulation-process before entering their apartment.

“You’re home early,” Cain commented when he entered the living room. Charles relaxed, knowing he’d successfully convinced his stepbrother that he hadn’t been missing for three days and that he was actually home even earlier than expected.

“Yeah, I thought I’d hurry home and finish my project early,” Charles lied. Cain nodded in approval and returned to his video game.

Charles felt his confidence return at the success and slipped into his room. Well, now he really might as well finish his project. He was three days behind after all. He turned on his laptop and began working, keeping an ear out for his stepfather’s return.

An hour of work later he sensed his stepfather outside the building and he began altering his memory. It wasn’t as easy as with Cain. The man was very set in his anger towards Charles’ running away. Luckily, it seemed he hadn’t told a soul about it. _Good,_ Charles though. No one would remind him then.

By the time the man barged into his room, he was just as convinced as Cain that Charles had never been missing at all. He eyed Charles with strange eyes but nodded when he saw that the boy was busy with work. Satisfied with what he saw, he left Charles alone.

Charles smiled and continued working when his phone buzzed. Alex wanted to let him know the group was meeting up the next day. He sighed. He’d blissfully forgotten about the others and the threat to their lives. Suddenly he wasn’t as keen to venture outside into the night as he’d promised Erik. He bit his lip as he called up Erik’s number.

It barely rang before the other answered the phone, and Charles smiled at the obvious relief in Erik’s voice. He spent a full five minutes telling him he was alright before they agreed to meet at the park. Charles hurriedly put on a thick sweater and manipulated his stepfamily into thinking he’d gone to bed before leaving.

The park was wonderfully abandoned when he arrived. He sat down on the cleanest bench he could find and cradled his phone in case _someone_ was to call.

He sat straighter suddenly when he felt alarm spread through his system. A threat was nearby. A redwinged threat, and it was getting closer in rapid speed. A strange last-minute impulse made him climb the highest tree he could find. He willed his wings out, ready to fly away when a figure entered the clearing. Charles nearly fell out of the tree. It was Erik. A wild-looking Erik with long red claws.

 


	14. Midnight Revelations

_(Erik's POV)_

He’d tried to fight it but as he’d sneezed, the nose plugs fell out and the scent of prey had hit him full force. It was too late now. The monster was out, and he could feel his own control of himself being almost completely gone. He vaguely felt dread underneath the thrill of the hunt when he realized he was heading for the exact park he knew Charles was in. He violently pushed a young boy out of his way as he entered the park and ventured through the familiar space.

The scent was pulling him relentlessly through the trees, and the monster was thrilled with excitement as it found the source. His stomach sank as he looked up into the crown of the tallest tree in sight. Clutching the branches with wide disbelieving eyes sat Charles. Beautiful, wonderful Charles with wings as white as snow and a life as doomed as any of Erik’s previous victims’.

He tried to win back some control but failed as the monster made him jump for the tree, his red claws slashing through branches.

“Erik?!” he heard the boys startled voice as he neared. ‘ _Flee! ‘_ He begged internally. But Charles was far too taken aback to move and fear rose in Erik’s core at the grim realization. The monster was going to make him kill Charles! It was going to make him rip his heart out and leave him a cold corpse for some poor dog walker to find in the morning.

Finally it seemed Charles’ survival instincts kicked in and the boy spread his wings and flew out of the tree just as Erik was about to reach him. The shift in the wind sent a wave of Charles’ scent over him and the monster made him grow out his red wings to follow the boy he used to chase for very different reasons. Charles still seemed too shocked to make a proper attempt at escape and he landed on top of a swing set on the playground close by.

Beautiful blue eyes shimmered with water from tears about to be shed and the boy tried calling out to him again.

“Erik? That’s not you! Please!”

Erik felt very much like crying, too. Or at least screaming. While he never truly trusted that fate would let him be happy with Charles for long, this just seemed too cruel. He’d never cared for anyone the way he cared for Charles, and now he would not only have to watch him die; he’d be the one killing him.

 _You’re right. It’s not me. But I can’t stop it,_ Erik thought. Something changed in Charles’ eyes. A small glimpse of recognition.

“Sure you can! Just please!” Charles cried as is he’d heard and jumped out of the way as the monster pounced.

Charles’ ankle got caught in a lamppost and he spiraled down to the ground, landing harshly in the grass. Erik wondered how Charles could possibly have heard him when he knew he was hardly capable of having spoken the words aloud. The monster charged towards the boy on the ground.

 _Move!_ Erik pleaded in his thoughts and thankfully Charles rolled to the side just in time to avoid the claws. With a hard step off the ground he rose into the air towards new tree crowns. The monster followed and was pleased to notice that Charles clearly wasn’t an experienced flyer yet. He was easy prey. _Please don’t get caught!_

The monster’s red claws easily slashed through branches as it got closer and closer to its prey. Charles called out his name again, urging him to stop. He couldn’t. He tried to force back the monster more than he ever had before. He realized with dread that he’d probably never really fought it this genuinely before. He’d never truly cared whether or not someone died at his hand as long as he could blame the monster afterwards. But this was different. This was Charles. And nobody was going to hurt Charles again. Not even him.

Using every bit of self-control in his body, he finally managed to stop the monster from clawing through Charles’ neck just in time for the boy to narrowly escape his grasp.

 _GO!_  he yelled inside his mind. Hoping it would at least show on his face so that the boy would run away. _Go where I can’t find you! It WILL kill you!_

From the look on Charles’ face he could almost convince himself to believe the boy had somehow heard him but the monster reclaimed its force over him and was about to pounce before its prey could get away. But before the monster could leap off the ground, a tear fell from Charles’ eyes as he held up a hand to his temple. Then everything went black.

When he woke up he was lying face down on the grass, panting and covered in sweat. There was no other sign of Charles left than the cut off branches on the ground.

* * *

 

_(Charles’ POV)_

He was shaking over his entire body as he finally stopped running. He leaned against the door of the shoe store. Too tired to knock, he slid to the ground and hugged his knees to his chest. He couldn’t stop the despair of what had happened to rush over him, and the tears finally fell from his eyes. He sat on the ground so long the cold of the pavement seeped through his whole being.

He felt the mind of a familiar presence and a large hand landed on his shoulder. He looked up at the worn face of Logan who for once didn’t look like a tired second-grade teacher.

“What happened?” he asked, looking both concerned and alarmed. Charles shook his head. He didn’t have it in him to tell just yet. Right now he just…

“Need to be safe for a while,” he muttered hoarsely. The older man nodded in understanding and helped him to his feet.

“Come on in then, kiddo.”


	15. New Conditions

_(Charles’ POV)_

”Alright, here we are!” Alex exclaimed and welcomingly gestured Charles into his bedroom. It was a little bigger than Charles’ own with a big bed, a worn desk and a sticker-covered dresser.

“I checked with my parents. You’re free to stay as long as you’d like,” he grinned and sat down on the bed. Charles smiled weakly at him. This was his forth night away from home and a semi-steady place to stay sounded really good right about now.

“Thanks,” he muttered. “I really appreciate it.”

“No problem,” Alex laughed before eying him carefully. “You know, you can totally tell me what’s happening, right?”

Charles nodded but didn’t say anything. He wasn’t ready to talk about it just yet. He wasn’t quite sure how the others would respond. Alex sensed the end of the topic and went to turn on his computer. At the sound of someone calling out in the room next to his, he shot up.

“I’m just gonna go check on my brother real’ quick, okay?” he said. “Feel free to entertain yourself on my computer.”

He left but before the door even closed, he opened it again. “Don’t click through my browser history, though. Seriously, be cool.”

Charles laughed and Alex winked as he left the room again. As soon as the door closed, the smile vanished from Charles’ face. He felt the unease return as the hopelessness of his situation resurfaced. He couldn’t go home. Ever, it seemed. Erik knew where he lived. He knew where he went to school. Charles had nowhere to go.

‘ _And you’re in love with someone who wants to kill you,’_ his mind supplied unhelpfully.

He let himself fall down onto Alex’ bed and closed his eyes as he tried to empty his head. He tried to convince himself, even for just a moment, that things could be fine again. So he couldn’t go home? Fine, he’d find somewhere else to live. He couldn’t go back to school? No problem, his grades and telepathy should easily allow him access to another place of learning. So Erik had red claws and a desire to kill him … that one might be a bit harder to fix, he realized and opened his eyes as he heard Alex reenter the room.

Alex looked tired, he noticed. He had dark circles under his eyes and his mind felt almost as gloomy as Charles’.

“Are _you_ okay?” Charles asked the other boy.

“I’m fine. Really. I’m just …” Alex looked like he struggled to find the right words.

“Exhausted?” Charles offered. Alex nodded. “It’s about your brother right?”

“So you heard about that?” Alex smiled sadly. “Yeah, my little brother, Scott, he’s really sick. The doctors don’t really seem to know what to do anymore. They’ve tried everything. Giving it all they’ve got. Nothing’s helped.”

A fierce wave of sadness rolled off Alex and into Charles’ mind. “I’m really sorry, Alex,” he spoke. Alex smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. He’d heard those words many times before and no matter how genuine they were they didn’t cure his brother.

“I can’t seem to figure out who’s got the worse end in store. Scott who’s probably gonna die sick ... or us, who’re gonna get ripped apart for our hearts,” Alex said and as he lied down next to Charles, staring up into the ceiling. Charles could hear Logan’s words in Alex’ mind ‘… _apparently they have strong healing abilities once removed…’._

 _“_ You know they can’t use your heart for healing without killing you, right?” Charles felt like asking. Alex looked at him funny before realizing Charles had read his mind again. Somehow it wasn’t as amusing to him as it used to be. He sighed audibly.

“I know,” he sighed. “This crystalizing heart thing really sucks.”

“Sure does,” Charles agreed.

* * *

 

_(Erik’s POV)_

The blood under the nails was the hardest to clean off. No matter how hard he scrubbed, it never seemed to wash out. This one had been a screamer. A young girl from just outside of the city. Janos, or rather Riptide, patted him amiably on the back and praised his performance once again. His old friend was clearly pleased to have Eric back in the group.

They were currently at the nasty old house the older hunters called home. He hadn’t been home to his own tiny apartment since the indecent at the park. He’d tried. He really had tried to maintain a somewhat normal life. With school and home and friends. Somehow it didn’t seem to matter anymore. The attack on Charles had proven it. He couldn’t be normal, and he couldn’t pick and choose what mattered in his life. So now, he’d finally accepted his fate as a hunter in this vicious group. He was merging with the monster.

“You’re getting quicker,” Riptide praised him again. “Quite impressive.”

Erik didn’t respond. He just plumped down onto a dirty mattress on the floor and stared at nothing in particular.

“Hey, I’m being nice here. Cheer up already!” his friend exclaimed in annoyance. A female chuckle sounded from the doorway.

“He’s just missing the little telepath,” Emma taunted. Erik sat up straight and stared at her bewilderedly.

“Oh, that’s adorable! You didn’t even know your little sweetheart was a mind-reader?” Her cruel laugh became even louder. “Well, then again. You didn’t even know he was prey, did you?”

“Get the fuck off his back, Emma!” Riptide sneered and slammed the door in her face. He turned around to face Erik. “Who?”

Erik didn’t answer. He just ran a hand through his hair and threw himself back in the mattress. It actually explained a lot, he supposed. He knew the prey had evolved special supernatural abilities to improve their chances of survival. And he knew those abilities were part of the reason the older hunters still spent their energy chasing crystalizing hearts despite not really having the same urge. He knew Emma was a telepath because she ate a heart she’d stolen, before it could crystalize.

And right now, that thought made Erik sick. The people in this disgusting house all wanted to kill his precious Charles because of this. Some might only want to sell the heart, like Erik did. There was a serious market for it. It was the reason he had been able to live comfortably on his own. But others listened too much to their monster and did as it asked even after its control had lessened. Some people in this house wanted to eat a heart that Erik considered his entirely.

“No way!? It’s Xavier, isn’t it?” Riptide asked incredulously. Erik ignored him and the pain that followed.

 


	16. Darwin's First Flight

_(Charles’ POV)_

Their steps echoed loudly as they hurried up the many stairs. Charles did his best to laugh at Sean’s endless stream of bad jokes without it seeming forged but after almost an hour in the other’s company it was getting increasingly more difficult. Behind him Raven was complaining about a bad day in school and Hank tried his best to pretend to listen. Charles wanted to be sympathetic but from what he’d seen in Raven’s mind, her social life was nowhere near as rough as she’d convinced herself it was. Up front Logan had finally reached the door and was holding it open for Alex to walk through, Darwin following right behind him. Charles and Sean stepped out onto the rooftop right after them, and Charles enjoyed the sensation of a cool night breeze pushing his hair back.

Darwin was starting to bounce eagerly, clasping his hands together in anticipation. Charles smiled in understanding as he could feel the excitement in the younger boy’s mind. This was very new and exhilarating for him, though he doubted many teenagers would be thrilled at the prospect of jumping off a skyscraper. Charles sure hadn’t been. He shook the thought from his head and pulled his sweater over his head. Focusing his mind he allowed the great white wings to grow from his shoulder blades, shredding the t-shirt he’d _burrowed_ from Kurt. He smiled. It might have been his favorite.

Hank helped Raven out of her jacket, and Charles noticed she was wearing a top with no back. Clever. Her wings spread strong and proud behind her, flapping playfully at Hank as he freed his wings as well. The other guys ignored the cold and removed both jackets and shirts, leaving their chests exposed to the wind.

In no time all seven of them had grand wings spread behind them. Sean couldn’t control his eagerness and jumped right off the rooftop. He circled around a chimney with an enormous grin on his face. Logan shook his head at the boy whilst Alex smiled, clearly wanting to fly as well but feeling obligated to stay by Darwin’s side in case he needed help with his first flight.

 _‘… Can’t we just push him off the edge? …’_ Charles heard Raven think as she set off to join Sean who was now chasing a frightened pigeon.

Logan tried to control his impatience as he explained the basics of flying to Darwin. Charles did his best to send clear mental images to his mind as he sensed the guy preferred a visual briefing. After fifteen minutes of explaining, Alex rolled his eyes, snuck up on Darwin … and pushed.

 _‘ … Perfect …’,_ Raven’s mind cheered in Charles’ head. He sent her a warning glance before jumping off the building with Logan to try and catch Darwin. They grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back up to the rooftop.

“What the hell was that for?!” a very pale Darwin yelled. Alex shrugged.

“Hey,” he said. “You’re gonna have to jump anyway. Might as well just get it over with, right?”

He quickly removed the grin from his face, though, when he caught sight of Logan’s glare. Darwin considered his explanation for a minute. He took a few steps back, turned and ran as fast as he could until he reached the edge. He jumped.

At first he appeared to regret his impulsive action but then he instinctively began flapping his wings. He stopped his fall midair and stared up in amazement at Sean, who hovered right above him. He flapped his wings more confidently and managed to fly up to Sean who playfully flew away.

As it turned out, Darwin was quite a fast learner. In no time he’d taught himself to change direction, spin and fly straight forward. Charles did notice, however, that he was considerably slower than the rest of them. Which meant that he obviously had trouble keeping up with Raven and Sean who, due to their slimmer physique, were the fastest members of the flock.

Charles was actually enjoying himself, relaxed as he watched the others have fun, but his mind caught up with a nearing threat and he gasped. Logan’s eyes were at him at once, and the man landed promptly near him.

“What’s the matter?” he asked urgently. “Someone coming?”

Charles nodded and the danger became obvious to him. “ _They’re_ coming. They’re on their way and they’ll be here soon,” he explained and paled as he realized. “All of them.”

Everyone aside from Darwin turned serious. He was either a really brave soul, or just stupid. He at least seemed very confident in his ability to protect himself. Charles wanted to explain the actual danger to him but he was far too caught up in his own dread. If all of them were coming, as he’d sensed, that meant Erik was with them. He was sure he’d briefly felt the other’s mind again for the first time in two weeks.

Hank and Raven exchanged worried glanced, discreetly entwining their fingers as they landed themselves of the rooftop.

“We should fly away,” Alex suggested. “Charles should be able to know which direction they’re coming from, right? Let’s leave.”

Raven nodded her agreement and gathered her blond hair in ponytail as Darwin made a noise of protest, not wanting to interrupt his first flight. Charles searched through the city with his mind and re-found the approaching figures.

“That should be the safest route,” he said and pointed north. Logan nodded solemnly and gestured for the group to take off. As they flew north the wind gradually grew chillier and Charles was beginning to feel the goosebumps spreading all over his back. Damn his stepfather for buying such a thin shirt. It was doing nothing to protect him from the cold; he might as well have worn nothing.

He tried his best to ignore the cold, though, as he was the group’s best chance at getting away. He kept his mind on the looming figures and cringed as he felt the edges of Erik’s mind. He wasn’t ready to go there. In front of him, Logan was sniffing the air in every direction to pick up on any unwanted scents. The rest of the group just kept a visual lookout, which would hardly do them any good. They flew relatively low to avoid being too much out in the open but it would do them little good if anyone down below were to look upwards. It was a good thing the people of the city had given up on seeing stars in the sky a long time ago.

“Behind us,” Charles exclaimed as he suddenly felt the enemies’ minds far too close to them. How had he missed it? Then he realized Emma had to be with them. She must have affected his vision.

Guilt filled his gut but he tried to regain focus as the group broke so hard midair that they nearly flew into each other. Unfortunately, Charles was right. Behind them two pairs of crimson wings came flying towards them. _Two? Why just two?_ The question echoed through the minds of the group as Angel and Riptide neared them. A brutal laughter sounded from the west and three new sets of wings appeared; Emma and two boys Charles didn’t know the names of, though that didn’t make them any less intimidating. Their pack was growing. A feeling of something familiar made Charles look to the east where he instantly saw _him,_ Erik, flying expressionlessly next to Azazel. Erik wasn’t looking at Charles. His gaze was locked on Raven, whom his mind concluded was the weakest link.

Charles felt the panic come off Hank in waves and turning his gaze away from Erik, he saw Darwin stare in awe at the newcomers. Logan growled and tensed, it somehow made Charles feel even worse than Hank’s fear had. Charles felt it was probably his duty to be ready to enter the redwings’ minds, to cloud their sensed until they were so distracted that he and his friends could escape. Deeming Azazel to be the biggest thread, he kept his focus on him.

“North is clear,” Sean mumbled.

“Charles,” Logan called loudly enough for him to hear. “How many of them can you knock out?”

“Three,” he answered confidently with an odd sense of pride. He was getting better. “But it won’t last as long.”

To his frustration his wings were starting to grow heavy. The redwings were circling them like hungry sharks. Several of them had already grown out their long red talons, and they were now blocking every direction. Charles shivered as he felt Azazel’s mind zero in on him. He’d been targeted.

Darwin was growing increasingly more impatient next to him. He was so sure of his powers he thought himself invincible. He sized up Angel. And snorted.

That ticked off the petite girl who threw herself at him in wild rage. The poor boy was so stunned he forgot to flab his wings and fell down six feet, unintentionally saving his own life. Riptide flew past his hunting partners too fast for Charles to react. He didn’t even realize the danger until a blast of Alex’ energy blew the guy away. Everything was happening too fast.

Raven and Hank dove, the two nameless redwings followed them closely. Sean and Alex spun back after Darwin, pulling him east with them as there was now a clear path in that direction. Logan and Emma circulated each other around a nearby billboard sign. All of this resulted in Charles being face to face with two redwings: Azazel …. and Erik.

He folded his wings backwards and allowed himself to fall down towards the top of a thirty-story office building. He turned sharply to the left and dove down the fire stairs. He swung to the right alongside another building. He caught a glimpse of his own stressed expression in his reflection in the windows. He was nearing the end of the building, his heavy wings tiring his shoulders. Then around the corner came Azazel.

Charles straightened up and flew upwards, farther and farther away from the ground with Azazel right underneath him. The exhaustion tore at him intensely and it affected his speed. _No._ He couldn’t lose. Couldn’t die just yet. He rebooted his inner strength and pretended not to notice the pain in his shoulders.

He couldn’t go any higher, he thought. He was going to have to change direction but he couldn’t allow himself to get caught. He checked his surroundings. East was clear. He turned but the clawed hunter was right behind him, getting closer. Just twenty-three feet away from him. Twenty feet … Fifteen feet … Ten feet … He held his breath … Seven feet … Five feet.

He screamed. The razor-sharp claws bored themselves into his ankle, and Charles felt warm blood run into his shoe. He couldn’t fly any further and Azazel’s grip was too tight. He looked down into the face of his capturer and recoiled at the sadistic smirk on the other’s face.

Now or never. Charles put his all into a final mental blow, releasing the darkness over Azazel as he clouded his mind and blinded his senses. His eyes grew empty and his wings stopped moving. He released Charles’ ankle and fell down onto an inclined roof.

Charles watched him fall as he tried to regain a sense of control over his own breathing. The pain closed around his ankle like a heavy chain and he quickly lost altitude. Looking for a safe place to land, he spotted a building covered in scaffolding. He dove … well, fell was probably a better word for it.

He landed on all fours and hid deeply into the plastic sanctuary. He carefully pulled the shredded bottom of his jeans aside to examine his ankle. _Could have been worse_. He tried to make regain a calmer breathing pattern. When he didn’t succeed he tried rubbing his chilled arms. He folded his wings protectively around himself, feeling rather hopeless.

Some scaffolding rattled a few yards away from him. Startled, he unfolded his wings, ready to release his powers upon the intruder.

“It’s not like you to look that ruffled,” said Erik. It was obviously meant to stir but somehow he couldn’t quite hit the right tone.

Charles wanted to attack. To defend himself. To cloud the other’s senses so heavily that he would never see clearly again. But he couldn’t. He could never harm Erik and he hated himself for suddenly feeling safer in his company. Like nothing had changed. How ironic, Charles thought in morbid amusement. One of the only times he’d ever felt truly safe, and it was in his final moments.

Erik should be attacking. Wasn’t that what he was there for? The entire foundation for his existence? But he just stared at Charles. For a moment Charles feared he might have accidentally clouded Erik without knowing it, but then his face gained an actual expression again. A worried one. His eyes locked on Charles’ bloody ankle and he tentatively came closer. Erik sat down next to Charles, put a strong hand on his ankle and stroked it carefully.

“I’m sorry,” he said and his mind revealed that he meant it. “I’m really sorry you got hurt.”

And he didn’t even avoid Charles’ confused stare. He looked him right in the eyes and moved his free hand to his face. Waves of regret and affection rolled off him and crashed into Charles.

That was all it took for Charles to lose his sense of self-preservation. He missed it. He missed Erik. He was so greedy for the intimacy that was once there. And the intimacy that could have been. He ignored his instincts to run away and put both his arms around Erik’s neck to forcefully pull him close. Close enough to smell his deodorant. Erik followed his example and held onto Charles tightly, burrowing his face into his hair though he seemed to hold his breath.

“I’m really sorry,” Erik murmured again and kissed his hair apologetically. Charles sighed and allowed himself to enjoy this moment, knowing that soon he would have to leave. He would have to go back to his friends, make sure everyone had survived. And Erik would have to leave him, too. He would go back to _them._ And who knows what would become of them.

 


	17. One Down

_(Charles’ POV)_

He’d found most of the others. Alex and Sean had been the easiest to locate since they had been hiding in a factory building not too far from Charles. Logan had joined them soon. He’d looked relieved when he spotted them but quickly had Charles search for the others in the areas he’d last seen them.

When they found Hank and Raven on the roof of a bakery, Hank was almost too busy tending to Raven’s new scratches to notice them. No one had seen Darwin since the attack had divided the group. It would seem he’d been so confident he was safe that he’d dared to move even farther away from the group.

“Can you just _try_ to search for him?” Alex asked him. “You know, just as far as it’s possible for you right now.”

Charles nodded and tried his hardest to search the streets for Darwin’s mind. It was no effortless task. He hadn’t spent that much time inside the boy’s mind so it wasn’t as easily located as the more familiar faces of the group.

He tried searching north of where they were currently resting on some benches. He reached the edge of the city without finding more than a few classmates. Then he searched to the south. Still nothing. He extended his telepathy as far east as he possibly could and felt incredibly frustrated when he came up short once again. The he gave it a last try, searching west and putting all of his concentration into it.

“I feel _something_ ,” he said.

“Darwin?” Raven asked cautiously, clearly not liking the way he’d phrased it.

“Well, it _feels_ like him… but different. Sort of … faded? I can’t explain it!” he sighed tiredly. “But it’s that way. Actually not that far.”

He pointed towards where he could feel what he was almost sure was Darwin. No one questioned his abilities and all began walking in the direction he’d pointed. Though he didn’t feel like sharing his concerns, he was fairly uncertain of his find. Somehow it felt a lot like Darwin, but also really different. It was like the mind he knew as Darwin’s but at the same time it felt very wrong.

Where most minds were vivid, colorful and buzzing, this one was dark, cold and unmoving. A nervous shiver ran down his spine. Maybe it was a trick, or a trap set up by Emma, the telepath. In that case Charles was leading the others straight into the lion’s den. He tried to calm himself down by searching for hostile minds. He found nothing except a man who was angry with his wife.

They passed a few shops, all closed due to the late hour. The streets were close to empty as it was almost morning. The few people they passed looked at them like they were on their way back from a party, mostly because of their young age and disheveled appearances. Logan walked a few feet ahead of them and didn’t even look to be part of the group as he lit a cigar to calm himself down.

Charles felt their target even closer now and flinched as he felt a pull on his heart. He stopped dead in his tracks and as the others stared at him expectantly, he nodded towards a narrow alleyway. Raven and Hank went in after Logan, and Charles heard Raven gasp loudly before covering her mouth in horror.

Slouching up against the wall was the very person they were looking for, Darwin, with vacant eyes and arms hanging loosely down by his sides. His bare torso was crimson with blood and by the left side of his chest was a gaping hole.

“They got him,” Hank said hoarsely and grasped the hand of the now-crying Raven.

Charles hadn’t realized he was shaking until Alex put an arm around his shoulders and murmured soothing words to him. Logan roared in frustration and punched the brick wall across from the body.

As the sun finally rose, the group watched the corpse of their comrade and friend whose first flight became his last.

 

* * *

 

_(Erik’s POV)_

He waited patiently until the entire house of hunters had gone to sleep before he finally dared to venture out. He walked through the cold morning air and stopped outside of Charles’ home. He stared up at the depressing building and wondered if the boy would even come back.

The monster had initially been so eager to track him down after what had happened in the park but every time he’d lost control and had started searching for Charles, he’d found nothing. Charles wasn’t in school and he wasn’t home. He supposed he should feel grateful the boy had taken his advice and disappeared from the usual places he went. He pushed his new nose plugs further up his nostrils and leaned against the wall. Charles would probably never come back to this place.

“Well, I kind of have to, Erik. I live here,” a familiar voice sounded a little down the streets. Beneath a street lamp stood Charles. He looked exhausted and had a bad limp as he walked to where Erik was standing. Guilt flooded through his system first. Second came a fierce hatred for Azazel for hurting Charles.

Charles stopped a few feet away from him, his blue eyes watching him cautiously. Erik didn’t blame him. He knew a member of his new _family_ had taken a life and he wondered if Charles had been close to him.

“Not _very_ close but that still doesn’t make it any less horrible,” Charles answered his mind again.

“So you really are a telepath then,” Erik muttered, as if surprised Emma had actually told him the truth. Charles nodded.

“And you really are one of the redwings,” Charles muttered sadly. Erik raised an eyebrow.

“A what?”

“Nothing, that’s just what Logan calls you,” the boy shrugged, faint red tinting his cheeks.

“… that’s not very creative,” Erik snorted. Charles looked like he wanted to smile but didn’t have the energy. He took a step closer to the smaller boy and internally flinched as he saw him stiffen.

“Look, it’s not-“

“Why are you here, Erik?” Charles asked him bluntly.

Erik weighed his intentions carefully. He wasn’t actually sure himself. He just felt like being here. Somehow seeing Charles again, in such a vulnerable position, had made him want to rethink everything. Redo everything.

“I want to talk to you,” he finally said. Charles looked wary and longing at the same time. “Please?”

The boy stared at him for a while, seemingly focusing hard on him. Something made up his mind.

“Okay,” he said and looked up at the grey building in contempt. “Just not here.”


	18. Caged

_(Charles’ POV)_

For the first couple of minutes they just sat in silence underneath their tree in the park. Charles was trying his best to ignore the pain in his ankle and he could hear Erik’s mind carefully plan which words to use for his intended purpose – while still trying to figure out what that purpose was.

Charles knew Logan would be furious at him for meeting up with someone so dangerous and he could hardly blame him. He wasn’t entirely blinded by his feelings for Erik, though. Charles was listening intensely to every thought and emotion coming from the hunter’s mind.

It would have been fascinating if it hadn’t also been so terrible, the voices in Erik’s head. There was a major battle for territory going on in there between Erik and a dangerous force. The feral dark energy within Erik’s mind was fighting tooth and nail to gain control but Erik wasn’t letting it. After giving up on finding the right words, Erik put his energy into reminding himself why the beast couldn’t be in control of him.

“Erik,” Charles tried, overwhelmed by the battle for Erik’s mind. “Would you tell me what’s going on with you? Please? What happened?”

The good old ‘ _Start at the beginning’_ -tactic. Erik looked somewhat unwilling to answer but eventually collected himself enough to try. “A year ago something … strange happened to me. It started out as nightmares - ridiculously realistic and bloody nightmares. I’d dream that I was being hunted by some _monster_ with talons and wings. Then one night I dreamt that it caught me.”

Erik paused. Charles moved himself closer to him. “And then?”

“Then the dreams changed, and I was the one hunting. I was killing people every night in my dreams for weeks,” Erik eyed him carefully, and Charles nodded. “Then one day I caught the scent of … one of you. And I blacked out. When I woke up I was covered in some poor girl’s blood and holding a crystal in my hand.”

Charles felt cold. That girl could have so easily been him with the close proximity he had to Erik on a daily basis. From what he could hear, Erik was thinking the same. The taller teen put his hand on top of Charles’, though which of them he was trying to comfort wasn’t clear.

“How did it take you so long to catch my scent then?” Charles asked. “You’ve been around me nearly every day.”

Erik flashed him a dry smile. “I wear nose plugs. It didn’t take me long to figure out that the scent was the trigger. I still wanted to maintain _some_ kind of normality so that I could keep myself from slaughtering my classmates and my neighbors. It’s not exactly pleasant to be cut off from all smells but I always figured it was worth it. If I could keep passing for normal then I wouldn’t have to be living with … the others.”

Charles digested the information for a minute. “You couldn’t keep the nose plugs in at all times though, could you?” he asked, referencing to the many murders he saw in Erik’s memories. Erik shook his head.

“No, at first it was really easy but then… it’s like, every time I relax the monster takes control and makes me remove them.”

“... Does that happen a lot? The monster taking control?” Charles asked. Erik shifted uncomfortably.

“Not as often as it used to but then …”

_‘I’ve been trying so hard around you’_

He looked at Charles funny. “You heard that, didn’t you?” he asked and ran a hand through his hair. Charles nodded.

“I did, sorry, but it’s probably for the best that I listen in,” he excused himself. Erik nodded in agreement before realizing.

“I _really_ shouldn’t be anywhere near you,” he said. “This can only end badly, don’t you think?”

Charles frowned. Logically, yes. But otherwise, absolutely not. He didn’t want to be apart again. Ever, actually.

“Nothing’s set in stone, Erik,” he muttered stubbornly, causing Erik to smile and entwine their fingers. “There’s got to be some kind of way for this to end _less tragically_.”

He could feel doubt from Erik’s mind but ignored it. He could feel love there, too, and that had to mean so much more.

“Hey, don’t move – I want to try something!” he exclaimed and moved halfway into Erik’s lap, placing his hands on either side of the other’s face. Erik looked mildly surprised but otherwise sat perfectly still. He closed his eyes and tried to enter Erik’s mind.

He wasn’t entirely sure searching for _the monster_ was actually a good idea. In fact, it might be the dumbest thing possible, but he wanted a closer look at what was tormenting Erik and driving him to murder.

“Be careful,” Erik whispered as Charles neared the source of the dark energy living within his mind. The monster lashed out and Charles nearly released the mental link in fear. It was taking up a lot of Erik’s mind, he noticed, leaking into what Charles considered the control center. Maybe he could do something. Maybe Charles could use what little skill he had to help Erik. Maybe he could…

“Cage it,” he muttered.

“What?” Erik asked.

“Maybe I could set up some kind of cage?” Charles elaborated.

“You can do that?”

“I can _try_ ,” he said determinately and tried to imagine a cage powerful enough to contain the feral beast within Erik’s mind.

It fought him, hard and savagely, and Charles flinched as he felt the thing lash out and leave a scratch in his own mentality. He tried ordering the monster into the cage but it only snarled at him, so instead he took control of the part of the mind that was still Erik. Luckily, that part responded very well to his influence. He grinned as he finally managed to close the cage that excluded the monster from the rest of the mind.

“There!” he exclaimed and opened his eyes, just now realizing that sweat was dripping down his forehead and wetting his bangs. Erik was staring at him intensely and Charles felt his fascination as a real and tangible thing.

“That felt … so weird,” Erik smiled and pulled Charles further onto his lap. “You did it?”

“I think so,” Charles nodded and let Erik push some of the sweaty bangs off his forehead. “We should test it.”

“Test it?” Erik asked warily. “Test it how?”

“I don’t know, maybe remove the nose plugs?”

“Absolutely not!”

The harshness of Erik’s tone made Charles back away a bit. Erik quickly pulled him close again.

“Can’t we think of something else? I’d really rather not hurt you,” he said apologetically. Charles thought about it.

“I can’t escape my own scent, Erik. We have to deal with this at some point,” he reasoned. “Look, we’ll be smart about it. I will be ready. You lose control; I’ll take you out. Deal?”

“You’ll take me out?” Erik asked disbelievingly and raised an eyebrow.

“Did so at the park!” Charles said in indignation.

“That was _you_?” Erik asked, looking impressed. “Shit, that was awful.”

“That was me,” Charles said with a smirk. He was actually at bit pleased with himself. “So. Let’s try this.”

Erik shook his head in defeat and kissed Charles’ forehead. “Alright. You ready?”

Charles nodded eagerly, focusing completely on Erik’s mind and the monster inside it. Erik cautiously pulled out the nose plugs one by one, obviously holding his breath. Charles smiled reassuringly at him and Erik sighed as he finally took a breath in through his nose. The monster was growling and scratching at the insides of the cage but nothing else happened. Erik let out a relieved laugh and pulled Charles closer, burying his face into the smaller boy’s neck.

“Amazing,” he muttered and Charles shivered at the feel of his breath on his skin. Charles smiled happily and weaved his fingers into Erik’s hair. Erik trailed a series of kisses up Charles neck before staring him deep in the eyes.

“You’re so amazing.”


	19. A Familiar Face

_(Erik’s POV)_

Once he’d realized that making up with Charles didn’t mean that he could leave the house full of hunters everything felt somewhat hopeless again. The others weren’t actually going to let him leave. Janos was so thrilled to have his friend back that he’d no doubt seek him out if he left. And the others, they considered him a soldier on their side in this battle and leaving them would be treason worthy of the death penalty.

He stepped over some empty pizza boxes as he walked through the house as silently as possible. He saw Emma reading a tattered book in her usual seat by the broken fireplace and he prayed that the shield Charles had sat up in his mind would keep her from seeing his memories of the day before.

“Where are you going?” she asked without looking up as he opened the front door.

“Back to my apartment,” he answered in the most neutral voice he could manage. “I’m running out of clothes.”

Thankfully she didn’t question it any further. She wasn’t all that interested in anything that didn’t concern her and remained silent as he left. He zipped up his jacket and crossed the road to make his way to Charles’ place. He knew the boy was attending a meeting with the other prey - _with his friends_ \- but he couldn’t stand to stay with the people whose main goal in existence was to kill the one who meant the most to him. At some point he’d have to address that issue. Someday he’d likely have to fight them.

“There’s still hope, you know,” he heard a familiar voice call from behind him. He turned abruptly and found his old friend Remy staring back at him. He looked different somehow. Erik had always thought the other had an air of maturity around him but at this moment, he actually looked older. Much older, especially the eyes.

“What?” he said warily.

He didn’t feel comfortable with the change. Remy gestured silently for him to follow him in another direction. He wasn’t entirely sure why he followed but then again, he didn’t have anywhere better to be. They walked a few blocks before Remy finally answered.

“It doesn’t have to be the way it is. Not for you at least,” he said tonelessly.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Erik asked, though he knew deep down there was only one thing he could be referring to. Remy removed one of his gloves and let long red claws grow from his nails. Erik stopped dead in his tracks and starred at the other who retracted to claws to put the glove back on.

“How d-“

“Let’s spare ourselves the bother of the more tedious questions,” Remy interrupted him. “Yes. I suffer from the same condition as you. When I was your age - which is a longer time ago than you might think – I was part of a hunting group as well. Yes, _was_. Like I said, Erik, there’s no reason for you to allow this to end badly.”

“You were in my class!” Erik said disbelievingly. Remy shook his head in annoyance.

“Your memory isn’t that great. I _transferred_ to your class. I look young and I took advantage of that.”

Erik ran a hand through his hair in discomfort. This was weird, even for him. He _did_ remember that Remy had transferred now that he was reminded of it but that just gave way to another question.

“You _tricked_ your way into my class?! Why?” he asked. That was actually really disturbing.

“Like I said: There’s hope for you,” Remy answered with a shrug. “There’s always been hope for you.”

“How?”

“Charles Xavier,” Remy answered simply.

“What about him?” Erik asked, suddenly feeling defensive.

“It’s not so much about him as it is how you feel about him,” Remy stated. “You love him and if you can stop yourself from killing him, you can stop yourself from killing any of them. You have opened your mind to the fact that they’re not just _prey_. They’re people. And that’s means there’s hope for you.”

Erik looked up and realized that despite the detour they were standing outside of Charles’ home. Remy looked expectantly at him as if waiting for him to ask the obvious question.

“How?” Erik asked. “What can I do to make this right?”

“Leave,” Remy said. “There’s going to be more hunts, more fights, more blood and more death. The only way to stay out of this battle is to turn your back on it altogether. You need to leave this city. You need to go to the Sanctuary House. And you need to take Charles with you.”

“… And where might that house be exactly?”

“1407 Graymalkin Lane, in the very northeast corner of Westchester County, New York,” Remy said before he turned around and left, his long brown coat flying dramatically around him.

He looked up at Charles’ window. He’d left it open it would seem. _Leave?_ He was quite embarrassed to admit that the thought of leaving the city hadn’t even occurred to him. He’d thought about leaving his apartment, leaving the house of hunters… but never about leaving the city. Could he even convince Charles to go with him? The boy who couldn’t even abandon a wounded stranger? Could that boy be persuaded to leave his friends behind to die? And if he could, was it even possible to leave the city without anyone noticing?


	20. A Mother's Fate

_(Charles’ POV)_

Even though Alex had insisted on walking Charles home, he hadn’t spoken a single word during the entire trip. Charles could tell he was troubled by thoughts of his brother and didn’t bother starting a conversation. He left Charles in front of his home with a one-armed hug and distant “Take care, alright”.

Entering his room Charles nearly cried out in shock at the sight of Erik sitting on his bed. The other looked concerned at his shocked face but smirked when he figured out that he was the reason behind it.

“Don’t think I’m not happy to see you but, Erik, what on Earth are you doing here??”

“Waiting for you,” Erik answered, still looking rather amused. Charles rolled his eyes.

“Figured as much. I’ll try again: How’d you get in?”

“You left the window open,” Erik said and laughed at Charles’ facial expression. He lived on the fifth floor. “Wings, remember?”

“Ah,” Charles felt a bit stupid now. “Wait, what if someone saw you?”

Erik pulled Charles down on the bed next to him and nuzzled his face into his hair. Apparently he was really enjoying having his sense of smell back.

“No one saw,” he whispered. “Are you okay?”

Charles wondered at first about the question but Erik’s memory showed him how troubled he’d looked when he’d come home.

“I’m fine,” he shrugged. “A friend of mine is just going through some things and I worry. That’s all.”

He took in the dark circles under Erik’s eyes when the other removed himself from his hair.

“Are _you_ okay?”

“I’m… better, I think,” Erik answered vaguely, and Charles could feel him wanting to bring up something he wasn’t sure would be well received.

“Is there something you-“ he stopped himself. He saw the idea in Erik’s mind. “I can’t just leave them here to _die_ , Erik!”

“I know, I know,” Erik said, holding his hands up defensively. “I know you couldn’t but do you think you could maybe just _consider_ the idea for a few days?”

Charles was about to protest but Erik cut him off. “It’s the only way out.”

“But couldn’t the others-“

The front door was slammed open and Charles could feel his stepfather’s mind. He was looking for Charles and was heading for his room. Panicking, Charles jumped to his feet and went to meet Kurt outside so he wouldn’t see Erik.

“Stay here,” he said warningly to Erik as he left the room.

Kurt wasn’t drunk but for some reason his mind was still very aggressive and Charles got ready to calm him down if necessary. It wasn’t needed. Kurt calmed down the second he saw him.

“Ah, good,” he said. “You’re home. Excellent. Sit down.”

Charles did as he was told, though a bit worried since he could feel Erik being angry with Kurt from his bedroom. The very sound of Kurt’s voice had stirred the monster inside him from its sleep in the cage.

“Is something wrong?” Charles asked carefully. He didn’t like the calculating look in Kurt’s eyes. The man flashed him a smile that was meant to be reassuring but came off threatening.

“No, no. Nothing’s wrong,” he said but Charles could hear excitement and frustration in his thoughts:

‘ _… how long ‘till they get here. It’s been dragging out too long… needs to happen today…’_

“How was school?”

Kurt looked Charles directly in the eyes. Once again Charles saw the image of his mother in his stepfather’s mind as the man was reminded of her through the similar features in her son’s face. Charles jumped up from the chair in horror as he felt something else seep through the memory.

“What happened to my mom?!” he exclaimed. A shadow crossed Kurt’s features.

“Sit down, Charles,” he said coldly.

“ _What happened to her?”_ Charles repeated, though he already knew. He’d seen the memory of blood and lifeless blue eyes. Kurt stepped closer to Charles who took an involuntary step back.

“She was in the way,” the man said calmly. “She had to be removed.”

“You…” Charles stared at him incredulously. “You _killed my mom_?!”

Kurt made a move for something in his pocket and Charles could see everything so clearly through his mind. He knew what Charles was. He’d known all along, even before Charles had started getting the first chest aches. He’d forced himself into Charles and his mother’s lives simply because of a DNA clue in Charles’ last blood sample.

“Tell me how you do that,” Kurt said with slight interest. “Do you just know things or can you actually hear my thoughts?”

Charles wasn’t accepting the change in topic, though. “ _Why?_ Why did she have to die?!”

“I told you. She was in the way,” Kurt repeated. “She would have found out. It’s so difficult to find a crystal that hasn’t been hunted down yet. Risking that much money because of one foolish woman, well, that’s just bad business.”

The man pulled what looked to be a gun out from his coat pocket. Charles wanted to protect himself but the despair of losing his mother was too distracting for his concentration to power through. He couldn’t get past the images in Kurt’s head. Kurt pointed the gun at Charles who could do nothing but stare incredulously at him in return.

“Goodbye, Cha-“

Charles fell to the ground as something flew past him. He heard a crash and looked up to see a figure looming over his Kurt’s lifeless body. Deep gashes in the man’s chest were already oozing blood onto the carpet.

“… Erik?” Charles called hesitantly.

The figure turned and Charles recoiled as he immediately noticed that Erik wasn’t in charge anymore. The monster was out of its cage and looking at him wildly with long, bloody claws out and ready for another pounce. Reacting quickly, Charles put two fingers to his temple just as the monster made a move for him. Erik fell to the floor as soon as the darkness was released upon him.

Charles got to his feet and looked around the room. The dinner table, the sofa and several chairs had been smashed beyond repair. Kurt’s body was lying on the ground, eyes staring at nothing and Erik was unconscious at Charles’ feet. This was _awful_.

 

* * *

 

_(Erik’s POV)_

He woke up on Charles’ bed to the feeling of fingers combing through his hair. As he opened his eyes he was greeted by a very distressed-looking Charles.

“Hey,” he muttered and tried to sit up. He felt dizzy. Just as dizzy as the last time Charles had induced a blackout.

“Hey,” the boy answered tiredly before hugging his knees to his chest and staring out through the door. Erik tried to recall what had happened and felt nauseous as he finally remembered. _He’d killed Charles’ father._

“Stepfather,” Charles corrected him in a flat voice. “Not that big a loss but you did make quite a mess of the living room.”

Erik was a bit taken aback by the lack of emotion in Charles face and voice. He _had_ just watched Erik kill a man, a man he knew at that, and been told of his mother’s death. Shouldn’t he be more emotional? What about the monster? Erik immediately stopped breathing through his nose. The monster got out!

“Don’t worry. I fixed it,” Charles mumbled into his knees. “I made a better cage this time. Should hold it.”

Erik looked at the boy. He seemed so tiny and lost, yet years older already. Erik put an arm around his shoulders.

“Charles, I’m so sorry,” he whispered into chestnut hair. And he was. He was sorry he’d lost control and he was even sorrier that Charles had lost his mother. Charles leaned slightly into the touch and mumbled a quiet, “Thanks”.

They stayed like that for a few minutes in silence before Charles lifted his head in slight alarm.

“We need to leave the apartment,” he said urgently and jumped off the bed. “Others are coming. I heard it in Kurt’s mind. He called someone.”

Charles quickly grabbed his messenger bag, pulled out his school books and replaced them with random clothes from the floor. Erik followed him out of the now trashed apartment and down onto the street. When they reached the end of the block, Charles stopped. He stared back at the building with a sad expression on his face.

“You were right,” he said and took hold of Erik’s hand. “We really do have to leave.”


	21. Journey by Night

_(Erik’s POV)_

It didn’t take them long to realize that finding the Sanctuary House might be considerably easier than actually leaving the city. They didn’t have enough money for a taxi, the subway was frequent hunting grounds, and simply walking through the streets was downright suicidal. They couldn’t risk being seen by anyone; neither the deadly hunters nor the vulnerable prey that would want to follow them.

Charles had originally wanted his friends to come along but it would be far too risky. Moving that many crystalizing hearts at the same time would no doubt attract Erik’s former comrades.

“There,” Charles muttered as he finished the text message for his friend and turned off his phone. “Hopefully Alex will share this with the others.”

The telepath leaned into his shoulder and Erik wished he could make the haunted look disappear from those blue orbs. The bus moved at a steady pace in the dark night. They were almost out of the city entirely and would soon be well on their way to a safe hiding place. They’d been lucky that this particular intercity bus was vacant enough to fit the two of them within the last five minutes before its departure.

“What did you write them?” Erik asked in a gentle voice and placed his arm around Charles.

“That I have to leave the city for a while to go live with my mom,” Charles answered tonelessly. He closed his eyes when Erik began stroking his hair. An old lady across the aisle eyed them with a small smile before returning to her knitting and her snoring husband.

Charles opened his mouth as if to ask a question but closed it again. Apparently Erik’s fingers through his hair encouraged sleep too much for him to fight his drowsiness any longer. The boy was fast asleep before he managed to utter another word.

It felt like forever. Erik kept glancing out the window, expecting to see red feathers at any moment. Nothing happened. He kissed the crown of Charles’ head. Hopefully it would stay that way. Eventually the bus pulled into a remote gas station about three hours after they’d passed the city’s outer borders. The bus driver hoarsely informed the few passengers that they could use the opportunity to use the restrooms or buy snacks, something that made many passengers sigh with relief as the on-board toilet had stopped functioning a mere hour into the trip.

Erik gently nudged Charles awake and passed on the message. Charles muttered something about going to the bathroom. Erik was about to follow him out when the boy held up a hand.

“I really am capable of doing this on my own, Erik,” he smiled tiredly before leaving.

Erik watched him leave for the rest area building, scoffing at the ugly yellow light that made everything look like the beginning of a horror flick. He leaned his head up against the glass as he figured he might as well rest for a while.

He wondered, not for the first time, how good of an idea this really was. He knew nothing about the Sanctuary except for its existence. He didn’t know if it really was safe, who lived there, or if he and Charles were even welcome. He could be leading Charles into a slaughter house for all he knew. An unnaturally strong feel of uneasy hit his stomach at the thought. How well did he even know Remy? Maybe…

He sat up straight. He knew that uneasy feeling. It wasn’t just his nerves. Something dangerous was near. He darted out of the bus at the recognizable feeling of another hunter. He easily leaped onto a container and further onto a parked truck to find the source of the danger.

The monster awoke from within its cage and hissed as it caught the offending smell. He turned his head in the direction just as the wind blew into his face, carrying not only the scent of the hunter, but the scent of Charles as well. He barely had time to think before the monster made him take advantage of his natural hunting skills and charge directly for the source of the smell. He found them just in time. A large middle-aged man had Charles pinned by the neck to the grimy walls of the gas station. The yellow lights gleamed in the red claws that would have surely pierced the boy’s chest or neck already had the owner not been so enthralled with his own luck.

It worked to Erik’s benefit since the man was far too distracted to notice him pounce. His claws pierced through the hunter’s neck, killing him instantly. The large body fell to the ground and the monster purred in satisfaction at the sound.

“Are you hurt?” Erik asked breathlessly, retracting his long claws to ease the other. Charles rubbed his neck gingerly but shook his head nonetheless. Erik reached his clean hand up to rub some of the man’s blood off Charles’ face. The telepath stared back at him intensely. It took Erik a full two minutes to figure out the boy was reading his mind again.

“I’ve got it under control,” he answered the silent question, stepping away to enter the reeking men’s room to wash the blood off his hands.

He did, actually. The monster was content and pleased by the murder of another hunter for some reason. It wasn’t even clawing to get to Charles, even though it was fully awake. Erik felt sick. Even out here in the middle of nowhere it was still impossible for him to keep Charles out of harm’s way. It felt like his life had turned into one of those old video games that never really ended, just sent endless streams of monsters after him.

Warm arms encircled him from behind and the soothing scent of Charles made it past the stink of dirty urinals into his unprotected nostrils.

“It’s gonna be okay, you know,” Charles spoke into his shoulder blades. “As soon as we get there, it’s gonna work out fine.”

Erik wasn’t sure whom Charles was trying to convince but he dried his hands and turned around to return the embrace.

“I’m sure you’re right but …”

“But what?” Charles asked, glancing up at him attentively. The trusting look in his eyes sent shivers down Erik’s spine.

“But I’d feel more comfortable if we kept off the ground for a while,” he said and trailed a finger along Charles’ jawline. “How far can you fly without over-exhausting yourself?”

The telepath bit his lip, looking thoroughly uncomfortable with the idea of flying for that long.

“I don’t know. I haven’t had that much time to practice, I guess. The longest I flew was … well, you were there.” Charles quickly squeezed Erik harder when the memory made its appearance through a shudder. “Sorry, didn’t mean to remind you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Erik brushed it off. “Let’s just see how far we get and take the breaks we need when we need them.”

They snuck out of the men’s room and into the nearby trees to avoid the eyes of the other bus passengers. When at a safe distance Erik pulled off his shirt and let his crimson wings out.

“You’re gonna freeze, you know that, right?” Charles questioned him as he simply let his own white wings pierce through his already-holey clothes. Erik flashed him a smile.

“I’ll live.”

They flew in the general direction Erik thought they needed to go. He kept glancing back at Charles to evaluate his state of fatigue. He was pleasantly surprised to discover that his telepath was faster than the average prey he’d previously encountered.

The sun rose and gave the world underneath them a golden and warm appearance. They only had to land to rest twice before they’d made it to Westchester County where they’d agreed to make the rest of the journey on foot.

Locating the house wasn’t nearly as challenging as Erik had feared. Friendly locals were more than happy to answer any question the polite Charles had to ask and before long they stood in front of a big gate. A professional-looking plate hung on the brick walls next to it with the words “ _Sanctuary –Safe Haven for Spectacular Individuals”_ engraved.

Erik and Charles exchanged a look before Erik pushed the gates open. Just as he was about to take the first step onto the property an alarm sounded and a ball of fire shot out from nowhere, heading straight for the two of them.


	22. Welcome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters used in the Sanctuary House are mainly the versions I saw in X-Men Evolution when I was a kid since I really loved that show.   
> So yeah, if you’re annoyed with those versions or strongly prefer either movie or comic versions, consider yourself warned! Or you know, use the power of imagination to change them mentally ;-)

_(Charles’ POV)_

Lucky for Charles, Erik’s reflexes were fast enough to get the both of them out of the way before the alarming ball of fire hit. They’d only just made it past the gate and from what Charles could see from behind Erik, there was quite a bit of way to the door.

Another fireball shot out from a cannon barely concealed in the flowerbed. This time Charles managed to dodge it himself while Erik pounced on the cannon, shredding it with his claws. Somehow it felt like it hadn’t even aimed at him properly.

Charles opened his mind to determine if there was someone controlling the cannon. _Cannons,_ he corrected himself as another one appeared on the wall of the house to take aim at Erik who moved out of the way promptly. He felt someone. Then he didn’t. Then he felt the person again before once more losing them from his inner radar. _How was that possible?_

Just as he was about to warn Erik about another cannon, a second, much more erratic, mind made its appearance and a young dark-skinned boy jumped from a second-floor window. Large, bone-like spikes raised themselves from his skin as he attempted to attack Erik who didn’t even have time to notice him before Charles had released the darkness on his mind. He might not be a fighter but he wasn’t just going to stand there and watch as someone attacked Erik!

He ran to Erik’s side to see if he was hurt. Erik jumped to his feet, scanning for threats. Charles looked up to the roof of the house in alarm as he felt someone getting ready to attack. The sky darkened drastically as the figure on the roof commanded it and as Charles entered her mind, he finally saw.

 **‘PLEASE DON’T!!’** Charles screamed to the woman’s hostile mind. She visibly flinched.

**‘He’s just defending himself! He’s safe. Please, don’t hurt him!’**

Erik noticed the change in the sky and the shift in Charles’ attention. He was about to get ready to take on the woman on the roof but Charles grabbed onto his arm tightly.

“Don’t!” he warned. “They’re attacking because they know what you are. Don’t prove them right.”

Erik didn’t look pleased to retract the lethal red claws but he did, moving closer to Charles to compensate.

**‘We’re not here to harm anyone’**

The woman jumped off the roof, a sudden wind braking her fall, and landed next to the unconscious boy in the flower bed. Charles removed the darkness and woke him up with an apologetic look on his face. The boy got to his feet fast, albeit somewhat groggily.

“Then why _are_ you here?” she asked, keeping a close eye on Erik who watched her just as intently.

“We were sent here,” Charles answered in as calm a voice a he could manage. “Remy told us this was a safe place.”

The dizzy-looking boy suddenly lit up. “Gambit sent you?”

Charles would ask but he immediately connected the name with the face in the boy’s mind. “Yes. He did.”

The woman who’d been seconds away from frying Erik with lightning eased up instantly. Erik still stood tense and defensive next to Charles.

 _‘… sure these people are trustworthy?...’_ Charles squeezed Erik’s arm reassuringly to answer the unspoken question.

The woman turned to nod at a security camera by the door, and less than two seconds later a blue-skinned boy appeared out of thin air next to her.

“My name is Storm,” the woman introduced herself. “And if what you say is true, you are most welcome here.”

She extended her hand. “I’m Charles,” he said as he took it. “This is Erik.”

Erik’s narrowed eyes still didn’t show any sign of a shift in mood. “Don’t mind him. He’s a bit _protective_ , I guess.”

Storm nodded. “Understandable. This here is my nephew, Evan.”

“Spyke!” the boy corrected her irritably.

“My nephew, Evan,” Storm continued unaffected. “He lives here at the Sanctuary as well. This here is Kurt Wagner.”

She pointed to the blue-skinned boy who grinned and waved, before adding, “also lives here”.

“Come on inside,” she smiled. “You’re just in time for lunch.”

 

* * *

 

_(Erik’s POV)_

Although Erik had hated every bit of the awkward lunch with a table full of strangers, he still felt somewhat relieved to be in house as well-guarded as the Sanctuary. They were introduced to a whole bunch of curious teenagers and wary adults before finally being able to leave the dining room.

“You two look so tired,” Storm noticed. “How long has it been since the last time you had some decent sleep?”

Erik eyed Charles. The boy might have caught some sleep on the bus but not nearly enough to compensate for the stress of the trip, or the death of his mother for that matter.

“A while,” the telepath answered with a strained smile. Storm nodded sympathetically and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Well, let me show you to your rooms then. You can sleep till dinner. Or later if needed,” she added and let them upstairs. Walking down the hallway she frowned.

“Hmm, I’m not sure we have two rooms cleared right now actually. We’ve been using empty rooms as storage and it might take a couple of hours to clean another one out,” she apologized. “Would you mind sharing, just until we get it done?”

“ _No_ ,” they answered in unison, exchanging at look that made the woman raise an eyebrow. She left them in front of the room and Charles entered immediately. His face lit up when he saw the enticing queen-sized bed.

“That might just be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Charles said and collapsed on the bed.

 _I know exactly what you mean,_ Erik thought approvingly. He took off his (and Charles’) shoes and got under the covers. Charles curled up around a fluffy pillow and Erik moved to lie behind him. He placed an arm over his telepath, breathed in his intoxicating scent and fell asleep instantly.

 

* * *

 

_(Charles’ POV)_

It felt like he’d barely closed his eyes when a loud shriek woke him up. The lack of sunlight streaming through the windows told him they’d most likely been asleep for hours already, though.

“Dammit, Kurt! I told you not to teleport into my room without knocking!” a female voice yelled accusingly.

“Sorry, Kitty, but it’s faster. How was I supposed to know you we’re half naked!” Kurt apologized in his heavy accent.

The argument continued and Charles groaned. He turned around and buried his face in Erik’s shirt. Another particularly loud shout from the room next door made Charles roll his eyes, and Erik groaned irritably from underneath him.

“They’ll be quiet in a moment. I can hear her forgiving him,” Charles said into Erik’s shirt. Erik moved a hand up to Charles’ head, stroking his hair carefully.

“Did you get any sleep?” Erik asked as he twirled a lock of Charles’ hair around his finger. Charles nodded.

“Good.”

The shift in Erik’s mood made Charles glance up curiously. The hand in his hair moved to cup his cheek before bringing him closer to Erik’s face, not quite close enough though.

‘ _… can’t reach you from here..’_

“I can fix that,” Charles grinned and sat up to straddle Erik.

He leaned down for a kiss and Erik met him halfway, grabbing hold of his head with one hand and his hip with the other. Charles smiled into the kiss when he felt a wave of affection and lust from Erik’s mind crash into his own. As promised the room next to theirs calmed down just as they pulled apart for air.

“Seems I was right,” he uttered against Erik’s lips.

The other hummed in agreement before grabbing him and swiftly reversing their positions, pushing Charles down onto the bed underneath him. He smirked down at Charles before passionately reclaiming his lips. Charles opened his mouth and let Erik ravish it with a needy groan. Large hands found their way underneath his shirt and he sighed into the other’s mouth. Erik’s lips left his to place wet kisses along his neck. The feeling was just too sensational and before he had time to even think about it, a breathy “I love you” had left his mouth.

Erik stopped and pulled away slightly to catch his gaze, and then he smiled. One of those rare smiles that reached his eyes and lit up his whole face.

“One more time. I didn’t quite catch that,” he teased. Charles felt his cheeks heat up but smiled affectionately.

“I love you.”

Erik leaned back down and caught Charles’ lips again mumbling a “love you too” so tenderly it sent a shiver through his entire body.


	23. Nightmares

_(Charles’ POV)_

The sun wasn’t even up yet, and someone was already knocking on the bedroom door. A young voice called through the wooden obstacle, asking if they were up yet. Next to him, Erik groaned tiredly, muttering colorful insults under his breath. Charles felt like cursing himself. This was getting out of hand.

They had been at the Sanctuary for almost two weeks, and though Charles couldn’t really complain about how well the other inhabitants had taken to him, he felt like he could do without their attempts to talk to him at least until after breakfast.

“I’m sorry,” Charles apologized as he sat up and ran a hand through unruly locks of hair. Erik peeked out at him from underneath his pillow.

“How’d you sleep?” he asked, knowing the answer from the bags under Charles’ eyes.

“Same,” the telepath sighed and turned his back on Erik’s worried eyes to pick up some clothes. He opened the door to an anxious-looking Rogue. She was a regular to seek out Charles.

“Good morning,” she said before putting on an apologetic face. “Did I wake you?”

“ _Yes!”_ Erik answered from their room before Charles could say something politer.

“Sorry,” she said more genuinely. Like most of the others, she was still wary around Erik. “I was just wondering if maybe I could talk to you about something but… it can wait ‘til after breakfast. Sorry!”

Then she was gone. Charles turned towards Erik with a frown. “You know she _needs_ to talk to someone, right?”

“Does that have to be you _every_ time?” Erik asked tiredly.

“You know it does,” Charles answered.

He sat down on the bed next to the reformed redwing. Erik understood that Charles’ powers enabled him to understand the insecurities, fears, and guilt buried deep within the minds of the other inhabitants of the Sanctuary. He knew from experience how well Charles could mend the hurt once he discovered its roots. He just wasn’t willing to have him taken from his side so often.

After finally managed to get fully dressed, they dragged themselves down for breakfast. Kitty and Kurt greeted Charles eagerly as soon as they entered the kitchen. Charles could feel in their minds that, like Rogue, they wanted to talk to him. However, Erik’s presence by his side kept them from bringing it up.

Erik was trying, though. He really was. He answered even the rudest question as earnestly as possible and helped around the house whenever anyone asked. A few of the others had already accepted him into the Sanctuary, however most tolerated him only because Charles made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t willing to part from him.

Erik didn’t want to be apart from him either but sometimes Charles caught him doubting his decisions. Erik was still terrified of hurting anyone and apparently had a lot less faith in himself than Charles did. It also didn’t help that deep down he feared rejection from the Sanctuary, and from Charles. Consequently, he was constantly on edge.

“Storm said there might be someone new coming soon!” Kitty told excitedly Charles. “I wonder if they’re our age, or from an older batch.”

“We could really do with some more of the older kind,” Storm said wistfully as she sat a loaf of warm bread down on the table. “I’m getting overrun by teenagers here.”

“You don’t know who’s coming?” Charles asked, unease coiling uncomfortably in his stomach. He was having some rather realistic nightmares lately and feared for the safety of his friends back home.

“Nah, Colossus never tells us much about it. He just gives us a heads up,” Spyke said with a mouth full of toast. “But at least he says _something._ Gambit just sends people our way without a single warning.”

Erik and Charles exchanged a look. They’d been meaning to bring up Remy. They were very curious to know more about his relation to the Sanctuary. He wasn’t like Colossus who possessed a crystalizing heart like the rest of them.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Charles began hesitantly. “How exactly do guys know Remy? I mean, when did he …”

“Switch sides?” Spyke finished helpfully. Charles nodded, and Erik leaned closer to the conversation.

“It was during the last batch,” Storm told. “He came to our people. He claimed to have seen the fault in his ways. Said he wanted to be better than _the_ _monster_ residing within his soul. He was brought to my door, battered and bleeding, by a friend of mine. My friend said he had saved her life, and from the state of him, I believed her. So we gave him a chance to prove himself better than his kind. And he did. He has saved many lives and taken many scars to protect us. He has proven himself a loyal friend to our kind.”

Storm finished her story with a subtle glance in Erik’s direction. Charles smiled. He was glad that Erik had at least managed to convince _her_. He didn’t fail to notice the shift in Erik’s mood caused by Storm’s story. He felt a small hope stir within Erik’s mind and took hold of his hand under the table.

* * *

_(Erik’s POV)_

Erik frowned as he realized Charles was about to have another night’s sleep disturbed with nightmares. He pulled the telepath close to his chest as his breathing turned quick and shallow. This was the fifth night in a row. He had tried asking Charles what he was dreaming of but all he had gathered from his boyfriend’s tired mumbles was that it concerned the friends he’d abandoned back home.

“ _Don’t …_ ” Charles whimpered in his sleep. Erik’s heart clenched at how broken his voice sounded. He stroked the telepath’s back and tried sending comforting thoughts, not knowing for sure if Charles was able to pick them up in his sleep.

Suddenly Charles screamed out in surprise and pushed out of Erik’s arms to jump to his feet next to the bed. Then he immediately fell to the floor and began hyperventilating. Shocked and worried, Erik climbed out of bed to sit by him.

“Hey, you’re okay,” he soothed and placed an arm around the shaking form. “It’s gonna be okay. Breath.”

For a minute, Charles didn’t respond, just sat there breathing too fast, and Erik felt panic surge through his entire being. Then blue eyes finally focused and Charles turned around to bury his face in Erik’s neck. Erik held him and continued whispering words of comfort but felt utterly useless. He wasn’t the mind reader. He couldn’t enter the other’s mind and make it all better. All he could do was sit with him and promise him things he didn’t even really believe himself. It took a while but eventually Charles calmed down.

“I woke you up. I’m sorry,” Charles whispered shakily.

“Don’t apologize,” Erik said and loosened his hold to lean back and look him in the eyes. “What did you dream?”

Charles looked ten years older answering, “I don’t think I’m _just_ dreaming, Erik. I think I _see_ them. I can see what is happening to them. And it’s terrible.”

 


	24. A Great Therapist

_(Charles’ POV)_

_As soon as Charles recognized that he was dreaming, he was terrified. Three figures hurried down a wet and dark alleyway. He recognized two of them as Raven and Hank immediately. His heart sank in fear. Behind them was a young girl with long dark hair pulled into a tight ponytail._

_“This way, hurry,” Hank hissed and opened a heavy backdoor. He held it for both girls and then entered the tall building himself. Charles followed them in._

_It appeared they had entered a library, though Charles couldn’t quite place which one. Raven led the way to the back of the room and the three of them cowered down behind large bookcases._

_“They’ll find us,” whimpered the dark-haired girl and tucked nervously at her skirt._

_“It’s gonna be fine, Claire,” said Raven. “We just have to hide out until morning and then we can fade into the crowd and get back to the store.”_

_Charles noticed that she didn’t sound very convinced of her own words. They were trapped, hunted. Raven sat with a tense posture and kept clenching and un-clenching her fists. She had a nasty scratch across her left cheek, and from the state of her clothes it looked like she’d spent a long while out in the cold rain. Hank didn’t appear to be in a much better state. His jacket had been torn in several places and his knee was obviously causing him a great deal of pain. Claire had a split lip but appeared otherwise uninjured. Charles wondered how long she’d been with the others._

_“I hear something!” Claire sniveled._

_“It’s just your-“_

_The front doors blasted open, and Azazel and Riptide entered the library with hungry expressions. They had already drawn their long red talons and caught the scent of their prey almost instantly. With surprising strength, Hank pushed the bookcase they’d hidden behind. It fell heavily but ultimately missed Janos, who now pounced at the three._

_Raven ducked out of reach just in time, still quick in her movements. Claire jumped onto of another bookcase and climbed on top, seeking safety on higher grounds. Raven and Hank, by now at the other end of the library, noticed her fatal mistake before she did. Two pairs of red wings spread fast and fierce, limiting Charles’ vision of Claire as the poor girl was pushed off the top of the bookcase and pinned to the floor._

_Hank made a move to come to Claire’s aid but Raven, knowing he would fail, forcefully pushed him out of the backdoor. They fled away from the dying screams of the dark-haired girl whose heart was clawed from her rib cage._

* * *

“Charles!”

He woke to the sound of Erik calling out his name, worry and fear evident in his voice. Then he noticed where was. Rather than just pushing himself to the floor this time, Charles had somehow wound up on top of their dresser, white wings spread and ready to escape.

Erik held out a hand when he saw that Charles had left the nightmare. Charles allowed him to help him down from the dresser. He was breathing too quickly again, his system pumped full of adrenalin. He felt strong arms circle his waist and chapped lips kiss his forehead. Involuntarily, his wings folded around them.

“What happened?” Erik asked.

“She died,” Charles said breathlessly, wanting to pull his wings back into his body but still unable to because of the adrenalin.

“Who died?”

“Claire,” he said and cried in mourning for the girl he’d never even met. He felt guilty. He should have been there. He could have done _something_ , anything really. He could have made a difference. Claire could still be alive and he could have known her.

“Charles, you can’t blame yourself for saving your own life,” Erik said, apparently reading his guilt off his face. “That’s a basic human instinct.”

“I know. It just _feels_ wrong. I left them. Abandoned them to die, Erik,” he sobbed.

He could feel that Erik disagreed fiercely with that statement from the way his frustration was stirring in his mind but the redwing kept silent. He knew Erik’s only concern was that _Charles_ survived, and he appreciated the self-control it took not to say it out loud.

“They’re not alone,” Erik settled for saying. “They have each other. It gives them a much better advantage than you’re crediting them for.”

“How? It’s not like single hunters are hunting them. They hunt us in packs, too.”

“Yeah, but they have powers and the longer they live, they stronger they get,” Erik explained. “Emma told me. That’s why you’re being hunted so aggressively. One day, you’ll be stronger than them.”

That eased Charles a bit. Their powers would grow. They would stand a greater chance. But then…

“I’m not getting stronger, though,” he pointed out. Erik looked amused.

“And you’ve been telepathically stalking your friends for _how long_? That’s new. You managed to contain my _less pleasant_ side. You couldn’t have done that before, could you?”

Charles smiled weakly. “Fair point.”

Erik kissed him softly before leaning back and admiring the wings enclosing them. He moved a hand from Charles’ waist to gently caress his way from the shoulder of the wing to the outer feathers. One of the white feathers came loose upon touching but Erik caught it effortlessly. He twirled it thoughtfully between his fingers before smirking.

“I’m keeping this.”

* * *

 Rogue was waiting for him by the time he left the room the next morning. Erik was still in the shower and Charles figured he would give her a fair chance at catching him alone.

“Hi Rogue,” he greeted her before she managed to say anything. “Would you like to go for a walk?”

She nodded eagerly and led the way to the extravagant grounds surrounding the mansion.

“What did you want to talk about yesterday?” Charles asked when he grew bored of the small talk. Rogue bit her lip.

“I’m not really sure how to put it into words. And it’s just…” _‘…You’re so good at figuring it out…’_

Charles hummed in acknowledgement and took a look into Rogue’s mind. On the surface he found a great deal of nervousness and fear. She had the ability to copy the abilities of another bearer of a crystalizing heart. Unfortunately, it was through physical touch that greatly damaged the person she was borrowing powers from. She lived in constant fear of accidentally touching skin with one of her friends. She was terrified of hurting them as she had once hurt a boyfriend before she’d fled to the Sanctuary. She wondered if maybe she shouldn’t be there at all.

“Don’t leave, Rogue,” Charles said and placed a hand on her heavily clothed arm. “These people are your friends. They understand. They know why you can’t touch them. And they would forgive you if it happened accidentally.”

“But what if I hurt them seriously one day. I put my old boyfriend in a coma! It’s not safe,” she looked on the verge of tears but a stubborn determination to appear mature kept them at bay.

“Then you’ll have to get better at controlling it,” he said with a friendly smile. “We get stronger, you know. I did and I’m sure you could too.”

“You really think so,” she said, a small trace of hope evident in her words. “I just don’t wanna hurt anybody. Well, not anybody who doesn’t deserve it anyways.”

Charles smiled.

“What?” she demanded.

“Nothing, you just reminded me of Erik a little. He’d just at terrified of hurting someone innocent as you. Maybe even more so, actually. The odds aren’t really in his favor.”

For a moment, he felt Rogue consider whether she should feel offended by the comparison to the enemy. Then she promptly reminded herself that Erik wasn’t an enemy anymore. He’d had every opportunity to harm the inhabitants of the Sanctuary since he’d brought Charles to their gates. But he’d been good. He’d hurt no one.

“How does he do it?” she asked incredulously as she remembered when Charles had once told her how strong the redwings’ urge was to kill was.

“He’s trying his hardest,” Charles said before adding modestly “and I helped him get started.”

 

* * *

_(Erik’s POV)_

He was aware of the girl staring at him. She had been doing so for a while, clearly contemplating whether she could talk to him or not. He ignored her while she made up her mind. He had promised Storm to help put together a bunch of new furniture and he was just one screw short of having finished all the chairs. One, two, three more turns of the screwdriver and … he was done. He sat up, stretching muscles that were sore from sitting down for so long.

Rogue finally opted for couching to get his attention. He looked her in the eyes and raised an eyebrow. He knew she found it intimidating – Charles had told him so – but he was honestly too exhausted to care.

“Did the drain clog up again?” he asked in as friendly a voice as he was capable of in his tired state. She shook her head.

“I just wanted to tell you … I admire you. For trying so hard to - you know - _not_ hurting people,” she said awkwardly but with determination in her eyes. “I know it’s not easy.”

He had absolutely no idea what to say to that. He knew from Charles that her powers meant she could hurt people if she touched them but he’d never actually had a full conversation with the girl. He wondered if that was what she’d wanted to talk to Charles about. When he realized she was waiting for him to respond, he looked away and scratched the back of his head uneasily.

“It’s … not a big deal. Really, I owe it all to Charles. Without his help, I would have been too weak to pull through,” he mumbled and continued to look everywhere but at the girl who stared at him like she saw him for the first time.

“I don’t think you give yourself enough credit,” she said softly before leaving him alone with the furniture and the rising blush of embarrassment.


	25. Two Days Until Death

_(Charles’ POV)_

_Charles had no idea where he was. He knew it was another dream, yet he found himself completely unable to identify the location. It looked like an operating room, but not one any self-respecting or government regulated hospital would be in charge of._

_The tiled floor was shattered in several places and filthy to an extent that made Charles want to shower immediately. A window was covered up with large pieces of cardboard and the only other potential source of light was a greasy lamp hanging from the middle of the ceiling. And in the middle of the room were the only semi-professional-looking equipment in sight; a tray full of bloody knives and a narrow metal operating table with leather straps to hold down one the only other person present._

_A small part of him knew who it was long before he convinced himself to move closer to the unmoving body. He recognized the blond hair and strong facial features even as they were now, lifeless and covered in blood._

_A choked sob ribbed through his throat as he took in the sight of Alex’ corpse lying alone and abandoned in such an unworthy resting place. The deep hole in his chest was clean, far cleaner than what Charles had seen before. Knives cut cleaner than claws. Unable to look anymore, and distressed about not waking up, he turned towards the only exit._

_But as he put his hands on the steel door, his eyes caught sight of Alex’ phone lying solitary on the soiled floor. Idly picking it up he noticed two things: Five missed calls, and the date._

 

* * *

(Erik’s POV)

What had started as another round of nightmares for Charles had turned into something far worse; he wanted to leave. The telepath had woken up, sobbing and screaming, and clawing his way to the nearest thing that could tell him the date.

“I _have_ to stop it!” Charles repeated with rising frustration as Erik had grabbed his arm to stop him from getting dressed any further.

“How can you even be sure it’s real?” Erik reasoned, beyond horrified at the thought of Charles leaving the Sanctuary. “You said before that your dreams took you to your friends’ minds. You’ve never been _psychic_! How can you know?”

Charles looked torn between yelling and collapsing. Erik took advantage of the momentary pause to pull the younger man into his arms. He didn’t like the tortured look on Charles’ face but he wasn’t about to let him go back to a place that dangerous. Charles halfheartedly made a move to pull away but surrendered as Erik tightened the arms around him.

“I know I haven’t been able to see the future before but…” His voice trembled. “He’s my _friend_. I can’t let him die, Erik. Even if there’s the slightest possibility that what I saw might really happen in two days, I _have_ to stop it.”

Erik rubbed his back soothingly, but felt panic stir within himself. He couldn’t let this happen but was there really any way of stopping Charles short of physically restraining him? Returning to the city for Charles’ friend meant returning to the very place that his former comrades had turned into their hunting ground. The monster in his mind stirred at the thought. It had calmed down so much in the last couple of weeks that Erik sometimes forgot it even existed. At first, it had stirred and snapped whenever he’d caught the scent of any of the other residents of the Sanctuary. But lately, it seemed almost tame, content to lie still within the enclosure of Erik’s mind. The memory of conflict and buried hatred awoke the beast from its slumber, though. It clawed and growled at him to do something, anything, to resolve all of the pend of aggressions he harbored for his old hunting pals.

“Erik?” Charles had noticed the shift in the monster’s temper and pulled away slightly for eye contact.

“I got it,” he whispered back. The monster didn’t want to hurt Charles. It didn’t care for the death of the other residents either. For once it craved the blood of the enemy and not the innocent.

“You sure-“ Charles interrupted himself to look at the bedroom door with a frown. Erik caught the look and opened the door. Behind it stood Kitty and Kurt. They looked slightly horrified not only to have been caught eavesdropping, but also to stand so close to Erik when he clearly wasn’t in a good mood. They both began to rapidly talk over each other to explain themselves.

“Um, we were just-“

“I heard some screaming and-“

“-checking on you guys ‘cause-“

“-just thought we should ask-“

Erik groaned and let Charles invite them into their room. To his relief, the two intruders appeared just as alarmed about Charles leaving as Erik. It was obvious neither of them had gone beyond the gate since their initial arrival at the Sanctuary, and the idea of Charles not just leaving but actively searching out potential trouble had them call Storm for an ‘emergency meeting’ in one of the sitting rooms.

Storm eyed Charles carefully with a sorrowful frown as he told her of his dreams. Like Erik, she wanted to know how reliable the latest dream was to be authentic, knowing that Charles was only telepathic and not usually able to tell the future.

“I don’t know _how_ it’s possible, but this dream was far too close in appearance to the other ones to be just a random nightmare. It’s going to happen, I know it,” Charles explained desperately.

Erik saw raw determination behind the frustration and fear. Charles was going. He was going with or without their permission, and without a single care for his own safety. Erik inhaled shakily as his mind reached the only possible outcome of their current conversation.

“I’m going back,” Charles finally said as Storm had no more new objections. “I have to.”

“Fine,” Erik said, sounding terribly defeated to his own ears. “But you’re not going without me.”

Charles looked at him with so much relief and affection Erik could literally feel it pour into him. Kitty made a sound of disbelief and left the room looking very upset. Kurt teleported away, presumably to go after her.

“I would go with you if not for….” Storm sighed. She had to stay behind. Too many people depended on her.

“I know,” Charles smiled sadly.

“I can arrange a car for the two of you,” Storm said as she rose. “If you are right, you don’t have a lot of time.”

 


	26. Finding Alex

(Charles’ POV)

As soon as the first tall buildings of the city came into view, Charles realized the severity of what he was doing. His heart sped up and he found himself scanning every corner and every detail in sight as the car moved towards the store where Logan had brought him.

“Turn left here,” he instructed the driver. Erik glanced at him carefully in between his own long stares into the passing alleyways. Neither had spoken a word to each other since they’d left the Sanctuary hours ago.

“It should be right around...” Charles breath caught in his throat. He pointed the driver to pull over.

The front windows of the store were smashed in, and the heavy drapes and pieces of cardboard once covering them lied torn and scattered on the ground. Charles could hear his own heart beat against his eardrums.

“Do you need me to take you somewhere else?” the driver asked kindly.

Charles shook his head and thanked him. There was no reason for him to stay in the city with them any longer. It put him unnecessarily in danger. As the car drove away and out of sight, Charles and Erik cautiously entered the post-battle scene of the store.

Pieces of shattered glass crunched underneath their shoes, and Sean’s pyramid of shoeboxes had fallen and provided small obstacles for them to tread around. Charles allowed a small wave of relief to wash over him temporarily as he saw plenty of tears and claw marks, but no blood or bodies. Erik crossed the room a few times, sniffing the air as he went.

“I think I they at least got out of here,” he offered helpfully.

Charles smiled but didn’t feel all that comforted. Just because they made it out of the store, didn’t mean they were still alive and well. He pulled out the phone he hadn’t turned on since he’d left and powered it up. Finding Alex’ number on the top of his list of contacts, he called him up. It rang for a long time before finally playing the voicemail recording.

“Hi Alex. It’s Charles. I’m back home. Could you give me a call when you get this, please?” he spoke, his voice breaking at the end and making it more a plea than manners. He felt a warm presence behind him as Erik wrapped a pair of arms around him.

“Try one of the others,” he suggested into Charles’ hair.

Charles did. He dialed Logan’s number but didn’t even wait for it to go to voicemail before he spun out of Erik’s embrace towards the approaching cloud of aggression coming their way.

“Wait, Logan, don’t!” he called out as the man made a move to pounce on Erik from the other side of a broken window.

Too late, Logan had already pushed Erik to the floor, the redwing just barely managing not to get clawed by the sharp pieces of metal grown from the man’s knuckles. Charles tried pulling the man off Erik but he was far stronger than he was. Erik tried rolling out from under him, his instincts loudly struggling with his mind’s decision to not let his inner hunter take over.

**‘Stop fighting!’** Charles commanded Logan, astonished to see both of the fighting figures to obey.

Erik looked relieved to have his inner turmoil settled, but Logan was fighting him internally with everything he had.

“Please don’t hurt him, Logan. He won’t hurt you unless he has to,” Charles pleaded.

He knew he could easily forbid Logan permanently from attacking Erik, but found himself unwilling to do so. The choice should be his. Charles didn’t want to further violate his free will.

“How do you expect me to believe that?” Logan growled, still holding on firm to Erik’s shirt but otherwise not moving.

Charles sighed. There was really no way to explain it in a way that Logan could accept. So instead of trying to vocalize his trust in Erik, he opted for the only other means of expression he truly mastered.

“Erik, I’m sorry. This is going to violate our privacy a bit,” he said and put two fingers to his temple.

As Erik watched in perplexed silence, he shared his memories with Logan’s mind. He pulled all of his history with Erik out of his own thoughts and crashed them mercilessly into the man holding the one he loved. From the day of their first meeting, to the day they discovered each other’s true natures, to the day Erik saved him from the man who murdered his mother. Every part of his mind labeled with Erik’s name was shared with Logan. He had to know, he had to _understand_.

Logan’s face when through just about all the expressions it was capable of as he had no other choice but to watch the memories forced upon him. Eventually though, as the last memory faded away, he let Erik go.

For a moment the man was absolutely still. Then he nodded in understanding to Charles and sneered at Erik.

“You hurt the kid, you’re dead. _Remember that_.”

Erik nodded solemnly and let Charles help him to his feet. Knowing he was still on thin ice with Logan, Erik moved to stand behind Charles and keep silent.

“Why did you come back if you were safe at that house?” Logan asked in reference to the memories taking place at the Sanctuary.

“I had a … _feeling_ that Alex is in big trouble,” Charles explained. “I fact, I’m rather sure of it. Do you know where he is?”

Logan shook his head. “I haven’t been able to contact him in days,” he said gravely. “I went by his folk’s apartment but no one was home.”

Charles’ heart sank. Alex didn’t answer his phone, he wasn’t at home, and Charles still couldn’t identify the room he’d seen in his dream. If they didn’t figure something out before long, he was afraid his vision really would come true. He shook his head to rid it of the thought.

“The others?” he asked.

“Alive as far as I know. They’re hiding close by, staying in crowded areas. I can call them if you need?” Logan pulled his worn and outdated phone out of his pocket in demonstration. Charles nodded.

“Please. If I’m right, we need to find Alex soon. The others might know something we don’t.”

* * *

Hank, Raven and Sean all stared at Charles in disbelief as he explained Erik to them. As none of them made nearly as aggressive an entrance as Logan, he actually had the opportunity to explain rather than show them why he trusted the redwing. That didn’t change the fact that they now all believed he’d lost his mind. Erik kept quiet through all of their questions, even if he did raise an eyebrow as Sean ventured into greatly inappropriate territory.

“Alright, that’s about enough, Sean!” Logan finally interrupted. Sean opened his mouth but shut it as Logan gave him a stern look.

“We had to meet because Charles has reason to believe that Alex is in danger,” the man explained. “Have any of you got even the slightest idea where he is?”

Sean shook his head, and Raven and Hank exchanged looks before doing the same. They all looked terribly worn, and Charles knew from his dreams that they had been hunted far more intensively in his absence than when he’d last seen them.

“His little brother went back to the hospital not too long ago. Maybe he went there?” Raven suggested.

“No, I already called. They haven’t seen him there for two days,” Sean spoke with uncharacteristic maturity. “But his parents haven’t reported him missing yet, either.”

“Can’t you search for him?” Raven asked him pleadingly. “You know, telepathically. Like you did with Darwin.”

Charles furrowed his brows and ignored the way Erik had flinched at the mention of Darwin. It wasn’t Erik who’d killed him personally but it had been his goal for the day, so it might as well have been him to claw the boy’s heart from his chest.

“I might,” Charles said. “But I haven’t been in contact with his mind for weeks so I’m not sure it’s possible.”

If Charles’ own fear and guilt hadn’t been enough reason to try to use his gift, the look of fatigue desperation in Raven’s face definitely made the decision for him. Once more he put two fingers to his temple and focused all his energy into locating Alex. He spread his mental view as far across the city as he possibly could, calling and searching for even the smallest familiarity to appear.

Then he felt something. A sharp pain bore into his temple and he lost his footing. He heard the others call out to him but wasn’t able to answer them back. There was something calling to him. Something desperate and hurting, begging him to hear. Even as the pain increased, he poured every ounce of his attention to figure out _where_ the distress call was coming from.

“ _The Stadium!”_ he cried out and finally let go of his mental map of the city. He felt nauseous and faint from all the effort and pain but rose to his feet with fearless determination nonetheless.

“There’s someone calling me from the Stadium.”

* * *

A strong sense unease of filled Charles as they crossed the large parking lot surrounding the Stadium. He knew the others felt it too, it echoed off them. Erik seemed to feel it the worst, scrunching his nose as if smelling something unpleasant.

They entered the lobby. Like the outside of the building, it was nearly completely deserted. A single guard stood still in the back, not sparing them a glance. Charles tried picking up the signal that had led him there but found nothing but silence. Logan picked up on Charles’ loss of direction and took the lead. He took slow and calculating steps past the nearest hall leading to the tribunes.

As they entered the top of the many rows of chairs and were able to gaze around the circular stadium, Charles finally reconnected with the signal they were tracking. And it felt _wrong_. It was definitely not Alex but it was still _familiar_ , he realized now that it stopped pretending to be in distress.

“Out!” Charles yelled and turned to the others to make them run.

**‘Too late’** Emma’s voice sang triumphantly in his head, and the others’, judging from their flinches.

Steel shutters closed down the entrance they’d entered through, and all the other exits too. Instinctively, Charles looked to the sky above them, but aside from seeing the sudden appearance of red wings he also noted the open roof was closing, efficiently shutting them in.

They were trapped.


	27. The Stadium Showdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warning: This one's a bit gory. Also, character death.

(Erik’s POV)

Of all the pieces of important information to forget, why did Emma’s telepathic abilities have to be amongst them? At first he couldn’t see her. He had heard her in his mind but couldn’t spot her in the air. Then by following Charles’ gaze, he found her standing by a row of seats on the other side of the Stadium. She grinned cruelly.

“ _Aargh_!” Charles fell to his knees, hands clutching his head in seeming agony.

Emma had attacked him mentally! Erik went to crouch down next to him but his instincts told him not to turn his back to Janos. Sure enough, his former friend had sensed an opening on the one person whose death would harm Erik the most. Janos dove.

A hateful growl pierced his throat and he pounced on Janos, unleashing both talons and wings in the process. He collided with Janos midair. They clawed and pushed at each other, both of their wings fighting for enough space to keep from falling.

One of his talons pierced Janos’ skin. He smelt the blood. The monster roared and pushed to the surface. He let it. It filled his mind like it hadn’t in weeks. He sneered. His former classmate turned in the air and kicked Erik’s left wing. He lost height but caught the teen’s ankle and slashed up the back of his leg.

Janos howled. He tried kicking Erik off him but only managed to give him space enough to spread his wings and fly higher, closer to his throat. Janos duck quickly out of reach. He glided across the playing field, blood tainting the grass red.

Erik let the monster pull him right after him. Without four wings covering his vision he saw the other figures moving rapidly around him. Azazel blurred past him, charging the redheaded boy whose high-pitch sound waves had just taken out to the two boys from downtown. Erik never bothered to learn their names. Azazel nearly got his target but Logan pushed into him from the side.

A part of Erik wanted to scout for Charles but the monster forced him after Janos. They circled each other, both aiming for fatal spots at every chance they got. He’d never seen such pure madness and hatred as he saw in Janos’ eyes.

He heard a boy scream. As he turned his head to ensure it wasn’t Charles, Janos struck again. He heard his own roar of agony. Janos had pieced every talon on his right hand through his abdomen.

“Erik!” he heard Charles yell.

He was far away by the sound of it. But not hurt. Must have been the other boy then. _Sean,_ he reminded himself. He was a real person, with a real name.

“You shouldn’t have left us,” Janos whispered into his ear. It sounded far too betrayed.

Erik grinned humorlessly over his shoulder.

“And you really should have moved.”

Before Janos could pull his hand to him and escape, Erik tore out his throat. Warm red liquid poured down his arm as they both fell from the sky. He landed harshly on Janos’ body. The talons that had wounded him had left his abdomen during the fall and blood was seeping quickly from the wound. The monster knew nothing important had been punctured and wanted him on his feet again. But he was losing blood.

 

* * *

 

(Charles’ POV)

He had to get to Erik. He hadn’t moved much since he’d hit the ground and Charles needed desperately to ensure that he would make it. But Emma kept forcing him to move further away as she was closing in on him.

Just to his right Angel nearly caught Raven who was rushing to the unconscious Sean, but Hank grabbed the redwing and pulled her to the ground with inhuman strength. Charles thought he heard something snap. Angel stayed down.

He made a sharp turn in the air, trying hard to create some distance between him and Emma. She’d blocked his telepathy and kept him far too stressed to restore it. He felt so utterly helpless without his gift. The redwing clawed. He narrowly dodged and flew higher. He had to get to Erik.

Reading his mind, Emma leered and dove, talons first, towards Erik.

Charles had no choice but to follow her in desperate hope of catching up. She was too far ahead of him. He wished one of the others nearby would notice and stop her. But only Raven was close and she’d landed to aid Sean.

Charles tried pushing past the barriers in his mind. If only he could regain access to his gift. He could stop her. If only he forced her out of his head. Hovering directly over Erik, she flashed Charles one last taunting smirk before diving.

She never reached him. A tall figure with dark red wings tore her away from Erik and tossed her into the scoreboard. The man landed next to Erik and put two fingers to his pulse.

“ _Remy_?” Charles exclaimed in both disbelief and relief.

The man nodded once at Charles in answer to his unspoken question. _Erik is still alive._ Then the man leapt into the air as Emma came at him with fury written across her face. Remy eyed her with cold determination. With a strategic swiftness, he ducked under her as she threw herself at him. His own talons then emerged from his nails, and he tore her open from stomach to throat.

Immediately, Charles felt his extra sense returned to him. Countless waves of raw emotion rolled over him. Exhaustion from Hank and Raven, pain from Erik, and aggression from Logan who saw what Remy didn’t. Azazel had seen his blind spot.

_“No!”_

Red talons pierced all the way to the other side of Remy’s body. A cough of blood dripped down his chin as he fell down on top of Emma’s corpse. Lifeless.

A wave of sorrow crashed into him from Erik’s mind, reminding him of his returned telepathy. He paralyzed Azazel the only way he could, leaving him wide open. Logan roared and swung his metallic claws. Azazel’s head came clean off.

Nausea hit Charles hard at the sight but he pushed through it and ran to Erik’s side. Erik was still conscious and looked massively relieved when Charles entered his view.

_‘… hurt?’_

“I’m fine,” Charles choked out. Erik’s shirt was _soaked_ with blood. “You’re not.”

“Don’t supposed you still carry that first aid kit around?” Erik grunted with an ironic smile.

Charles pushed fiercely down on the wound to stop the bleeding. This was deeper than the one from when they first met. Charles sank.

“This time we really do need to get you to the hospital, Erik,” he said. “You and Sean.”

Logan crouched down next to them. His mind told Charles that at least Hank and Raven were okay. Erik turned his head to the side to look at Remy’s body lying on top of Emma. He let out a raspy breath.

“You’re probably right,” he sighed and leaned back into unconsciousness.

* * *

They’d had to carry Erik and Sean to the hospital in fear of the authorities being alerted to the bloody scene at the Stadium. They would discover the bodies eventually, of course, but now definitely wasn’t the time.

Charles telepathically convinced every nurse and doctor they passed to not ask questions about the injuries. Erik was the one most critically hurt and they took him to surgery immediately. Sean appeared to have head trauma as was taken away for an MRI scan.

Charles had half a mind to compel the medical staff to let him follow Erik into surgery but figured he would be more nuisance than help.

That left him no other choice than to pace the waiting room with Logan, Hank and Raven. Logan had originally been opposed to let the nurse take Sean away for the scan, in fear of them discovering the condition of his heart. He’d let them take the boy, though, when he recognized one of the nurses. She knew, and she would keep it a secret as far as it was possible.

Charles kept his mind open and tried to listen in on every thought concerning Erik. After an hour, he finally let out a sigh of relief as one of the surgeons turned confident about his condition. Charles was exhausted and was just about to let go of his mental surveillance of every thought in the hospital when he recognized another name in the thoughts of someone urgently leaving the building. _Alex!_ He followed the strange mind intensively.

_‘… begin surgery as soon as Scott gets there…’_

Charles dropped the cup of coffee Raven was handing him when it dawned on him. _He should have known_. He should have figured out what Alex would do.

 

_‘Apparently the hearts have strong healing abilities once removed…’._

_‘You know they can’t use your heart for healing without killing you, right?’_

 

Entering the mind of what appeared to be Scott and Alex’s aunt, Charles saw everything he didn’t want to.

He saw Alex telling his aunt about his heart, saw him surrender himself to a ‘specialist’ lurking in the hospital, saw the aunt leaving him strapped to a metal operation table with determined defiance in his eyes.

“They’re going to kill Alex!” Charles cried, efficiently getting the attention of the others. “He’s giving them his heart to save Scott!”

“ _What?!_ Why would he-,“ Raven interrupted herself. She knew Alex. “We have to stop it!”

“Do we?” Hank asked dryly. “Isn’t that his decision?”

Charles wasn’t listening. He was already leaving the building to follow the aunt.


	28. A Brave Heart

(Charles’ POV)

He located the aunt on her way out. She wasn’t that hard to find while pushing a wheelchair with a very sick-looking boy. She pushed him outside where a van promptly opened. Two men helped her load Scott into the back of the van and drove off with the both of them before Charles could reach them.

A taxi was parked by the sidewalk, and Charles nearly tripped over his own feet to enter it.

“Could you follow my family in that van, please? I just missed it,” he lied effortlessly to the driver.

The driver was far too uninterested in his job to question the validity of Charles’ statement and followed the van as closely as possible in the heavily trafficked area.

Charles was still close enough to enter the mind of the aunt in the van. Should he stop her, though? In a way, Hank was right. This wasn’t his decision to make. Did he really have the right to stop it? Charles bit his lip. He had to at least try to follow them. They could still lead him to Alex who might still be alive. He could try and talk to him. Or he could just be there. The memory of his friend lying dead _,_ all alone _,_ in that vile room brought tears to his eyes.

He had to be there. He checked the date. No, he wasn’t wrong. Today was the day. The taxi followed the van into the industrial part of town down by the docks. The driver was finally starting to feel a bit unsure of what was going on when the van stopped by rectangular concrete building and the two men leapt out, carrying a young boy.

**‘This was a normal job. You drove a kid home. You got paid. You want to go back to the hospital’**

As he’d instructed the man’s mind, the driver left Charles to go back in the direction they’d come from. Charles figured he’d have time to feel sorry for not paying him later. Right now, he needed to follow Scott, the aunt, and the men into the worn-down building.

Cold sweat began to soak his shirt as he entered the building. The shirt was still torn from him using his wings earlier, and now it would be even more useless against the artificial cold of the hallway he’d entered. He knew from the aunt’s mind which room they were taking Scott. He was just about to follow them, when a man hurried out of a room in the other end of the hall. He was wearing bloody surgery scrubs and ignored Charles because he told him to. He was carrying a container clearly stated as designed for organ transport. Charles stopped breathing. A part of him wanted to follow the man to Scott’s location. It would be so much easier. But then he reminded himself why he’d chosen to come. He walked with heavy steps to the door the other man had just walked out of. With shaky arms he pushed the steel door open.

He knew the room. This was the filthy surgery room from his dream. He wanted to pick up Alex’ cellphone from the floor but it wasn’t there. That part of his dream had been wrong. _Or just intended to tell him of the date._

It was too late. There was Alex. Strapped to the table, with a large gaping wound where his heart should have been. Charles stroked his cheek as hot tears streamed down his own. Alex’ face was still warm under his fingers. He had just died. An audible sob forced its way out of Charles’ throat.

_‘I can’t seem to figure out who’s got the worse end in store. Scott who’s probably gonna die sick... or us, who’re gonna get ripped apart for our hearts’_

 

It was so wrong. He should have been there. He knew Alex. He knew he could have never talked him out of saving his beloved brother, but he could have been there. He shouldn’t have had to go through with this _alone_. Charles felt terrible. He should have known it would end like this. He had seen the signs in Alex’ mind back when he was staying with him at his apartment. He’d just been too absorbed in his own problems to really pay enough attention to the inevitable conclusion.

Clutching Alex’ hand, his wrist graced the leather holding his friend down. It was so wrong. In a frenzied, uncoordinated manner he began tearing at the straps. Alex wouldn’t have tried to escape this. Why would they do this to him? In his despair he found himself unable to free him and he buried his face in Alex’ unmoving arm.

“I’m sorry,” he cried. “I’m sorry. I should have been here.”

He sobbed quietly into Alex’ arm. He vaguely noted a change in the mood in the only other room with people in it. He couldn’t pay enough attention to figure out why. He couldn’t even make himself let go of Alex yet. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed there, unmoving and unable to dry up his tears. His phone vibrated several times in his pocket. He couldn’t answer.

At some point, he heard footsteps. Real footsteps, not just inside someone else’s mind. He didn’t need to turn to know it was the aunt. Bittersweet mixtures of mourning and relief radiated off her. Charles didn’t face her.

“It was his own decision,” she spoke. She sounded decades older than her age. “He said he’d thought about it a lot. Just told me about it two days ago.”

Charles said nothing.

“Scott’s gonna be okay,” she continued.

Charles heard uncertainty and guilt behind her words. He knew it would probably be kind to help the woman out of her guilt, convince her it wasn’t her choice, she did what she had to, she couldn’t have stopped it. But Charles wasn’t feeling kind at that moment. He felt hurt, he felt self-loathing, and he felt emptiness.

But at least he understood now. Two days ago. That’s why he dreamed of Alex’ death even though it hadn’t happened then. He had spent so much time in Alex’ mind that his own had picked up on his decision to sacrifice himself for Scott.

The aunt finally realized Charles wasn’t going to talk to her. She patted him once on the back and left the room, presumably to return to Scott. Charles phone rang again and this time he picked it up. He didn’t want to worry the others.

“Kiddo?” Logan’s rough voice sounded in his ear.

“I was too late,” Charles whispered, voice raw from crying. Logan sighed mournfully on the other end, and Charles could hear him pass the message to Hank and Raven.

“Where are you? We can pick you up.”

“It’s fine, Logan. I can come back on my own.”

“Alright,“ Logan had never sounded so tired. “But you should hurry back. Your guy has just gotten out of surgery. He’s gonna be fine.”

“Alright, thanks. I’ll see you.”

Now of a sounder mind, Charles successfully released Alex from the leather straps. He stroked his blond hair once and left the room. He knew the aunt would come back for him eventually.


	29. Cain Marko

(Charles’ POV)

Erik was not an easy person to hospitalize. He was barely awake before he was dragging himself out of the hospital. Clearly, he’d rather walk like an injured soldier than stay in bed and give his wounds time to heal.

“You really should stay in bed,” Charles commented a week later as Erik flinched pushing the elevator button.

“Stop worrying,” Erik rolled his eyes at him.

They were visiting Sean who was still in the hospital, like a sane person. They eyed the TV in the reception. The news still hadn’t picked up on what had happened in the Stadium. Now there was a game playing on the very grass where they could have lost their lives. Like it never happened. A part of Charles was relieved not to have had to manipulate the minds of police officers yet, but another part of him was discontented.

Remy had died on that field, and they still hadn’t mentioned anything about finding his body. Charles knew that Erik had tried contacting hospitals and morgues anonymously to inquire about any newly recovered corpses. No one had matched Remy’s description.

Charles could feel Remy’s name appear in Erik’s head again as the passed the TV. He grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. Erik had reached a point of acceptance about Charles’ mindreading that he expected that nearly all his thoughts were heard by his boyfriend. He brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed Charles knuckles in gratitude for the gesture.

“Could you two dial down a bit? This _is_ a hospital. It’s nauseating enough without your lovey-dovey activities.”

Charles turned to Raven with an apologetic smile, while Erik scowled at her. She was blond today, dressed in a form-fitted blue dress and looking well rested for the first time since Charles and Erik had returned to the city.

“We will be as nauseating as we damn well please,” Erik retorted and snuck his other arm around Charles to pull him flush against him. He kissed Charles’ neck sweetly. Charles shuddered and Raven made a mock gagging sound before leaving for the cafeteria.

“She’s not wrong, you know,” Charles pointed out. Erik trailed distracting kisses across his jaw.

“Neither am I, though,” he whispered into Charles’ ear before letting him go.

Sean was awake and bored when they entered the room he shared with an unfortunate middle-aged fireman.

“Alright, but! If you could _only_ save one: Who would it be?”

The fireman groaned.

“Come on, man. Shit’s on fire! Make a decision!” Sean encouraged.

“Fine! I’ll save the leprechaun,” the fireman finally said and threw his hands up in aggravation.

“Leaving the Easter Bunny to die in the flames?! Damn, that’s harsh!” Sean looked appalled, then thoughtful. “Although, you could probably score some of those gold coins…. Oh, hey!”

He finally spotted Charles laughing in the doorway. The fireman look tremendously relieved to not be the center of Sean’s attention anymore. Charles shook his head at his friend. He felt a bit sorry for the fireman who had no means of escaping Sean’s randomness.

“Hi, how are you?” Charles inquired and sat down in the chair next to Sean’s bed.

Erik remained standing by the door. He’d come because he still wasn’t comfortable leaving Charles to go off on his own yet, but he clearly didn’t experience any kind of attachment to Sean beyond the fact that the telepath cared for him.

“I’m way better. I would have left ages ago but my mom wouldn’t let me,” the redheaded boy grinned. “Luckily, Fireman George here is keeping me company. Right, George?”

The fireman sighed in irritation. Charles noticed Erik sending him a sympathetic glance.

“That’s great. Listen, Sean. I really just wanted to drop by to tell you personally that I’ll be going back to the Sanctuary today. You remember I told you about it?” Charles spoke. Sean nodded.

“You’re really leaving again?” he asked, though Charles could tell it was founded more in curiosity than hurt.

“There’s not really anything left for me in this city aside from you guys,” Charles smiled sadly. “And since it seemed we got rid of…” he eyed the fireman “…of our problem, I think I could be more useful at the Sanctuary. But of course you’re always welcome there, all of you.”

Sean nodded. He seemed displeased but was quickly distracted as Raven entered with a stolen extra pudding. His face lit up.

“Oh my God, I love you!” he said. Then he looked away from the dessert. “And you’re pretty great too, Rae’”

Charles and Erik stayed with them for an hour before Charles hugged each of them goodbye. They were the last people he needed to say goodbye to. He’d already said his goodbyes to Logan, Hank and his friends from school. Logan had considered following Charles and Erik but had concluded he should stay in the city until he was certain all the redwings were gone. Both Hank and Raven were seriously contemplating leaving for the Sanctuary as well, but Charles could tell they needed a bit of time to really make up their minds. Storm had promised them a car waiting in just a few hours.

As they left the hospital to get something to eat before meeting their driver by the central station, Charles felt an odd sensation of familiarity. It could have been nothing but the way Erik’s grip on his hand tightened and forced him to walk faster was far too suspicious.

_“Charles! Wait!”_

Charles turned around and out of Erik’s grip, astonished to hear the sound of Cain’s voice. His former stepbrother ran awkwardly across the road, narrowly avoiding getting run down by a bus. Erik tried to move in between Charles and Cain, but Charles stopped him. Cain’s mind showed no intention of hurting neither him nor Erik. Cain stopped a safe distance away from them and cleared his throat as Charles looked at him expectantly.

“I know you probably don’t wanna talk to me. I get it. Just hear me out. I wanted… _needed_ to apologize to you,” the large young man said. “I should have done something. About my father, that is.”

Charles stared at him, speechless. In all honestly, he’d paid Cain little mind since his dramatic departure from their old apartment. His main focus had been on Kurt, and what he’d done to his mother.

“I know, you probably don’t need me coming around and apologizing for being an asshole-“

“He really doesn’t,” Erik growled warningly. Charles held a hand up to silence him and gestured for Cain to continue. Charles understood. Cain needed to do this.

“The thing is,” Cain continued, pretending not to notice Erik. “I knew why he kept you around. What he needed you for. He told me. He made it my job to keep an eye on you outside of the apartment. You know how he was, he… I know the way I treated you was wrong. I should have helped you but... it was just easier than opposing my dad. I chose to try to please him instead of helping you.”

Charles nodded in understanding. He still didn’t like Cain but he could see enough in his former stepbrother’s head that he at least knew the cause of his actions. Cain had feared his father even more than Charles had. He’d accepted any given responsibility in order to prove himself to his him. And as Kurt had kept reminding him that Charles would have to be killed for his heart eventually, Cain had build up a fake resentment towards Charles to prepare himself. Dehumanizing Charles was the only way he could be morally okay with his father’s decision.

“I understand,” Charles spoke and nodded his head for Cain to continue. He could feel more words pressing. Cain took a deep breath.

“I found him, my dad. In the apartment. Dead,” he said. Erik took a protective stance again but Charles ignored him. “I knew it had something to do with you. Ha. What else could it be? I walked the streets till my feet bleed looking for you. Fuck, I was so angry. I wanted you to pay so bad.”

Charles flashed Cain a warning glace in Erik’s direction. Mentioning any kind of intention to hurt Charles really wasn’t something one ought to be doing in Erik’s company. Especially not these days. Cain held up his hands in surrender.

“That’s what I felt! But it changed. I ran into this guy from school. He used to hang around Lehnsherr sometimes. You know, the guy who looks kinda homeless, with the shaggy long hair?”

“Remy,” Charles recognized, seeing the man in Cain’s mind. Erik stopped moving and Charles felt the mourning rise in him again.

“Yeah, that guy!” Cain nodded. “He said that I should stop looking for you. I got really mad at him, you know, yelling at him to tell me where you were. He just said that ‘ _Charles is finally safe, with Erik’_.”

Charles and Erik exchanged a look. Remy really had done too much for them. And they couldn’t even find his body and give him a proper goodbye.

“So you stopped looking for me?” Charles inquired.

“Eventually,” Cain nodded. “You know, once I cooled down, I realized I shouldn’t be mad at you. My dad had every intention of killing you. If you’d really killed him, it would probably be in self-defense. Hell, knowing you, it could _only_ be self-defense. And now that he isn’t here anymore… I don’t know, I can _live._ But there’s just _…_ ”

Charles smiled despite himself. Cain’s life had been almost as constricted and fearful as his own. But even after his father’s death, the way he’d made him act towards Charles still haunted him. That’s why he was seeking him out. He needed closure. He needed to ease his conscience so he could finally be free of Kurt and live his own life.

“I forgive you,” he said. Erik made a disbelieving noise and Charles shut him up from saying anymore with a pleading look. This wasn’t about him. This was about Cain.

“What?” Cain asked incredulously. He looked like he _wanted_ Charles to say that, but couldn’t quite believe it actually happening.

 **“‘You are forgiven’”** Charles spoke with both his mind and his voice.

Cain’s face relaxed in a way that nearly made him unrecognizable to Charles. But then he smiled, so genuinely, and held out his large hand. Charles shook it, and they parted forever.


	30. Return to the Sanctuary

(Erik’s POV)

Storm stood ready in front of the house to welcome them back as they got out of the car. She barely had the chance to tell them it was good to have them back before Kitty rushed _right through her_ to get to Charles. The girl threw her arms around the telepath so violently he nearly tumbled over.

“You’re okay! Thank God, you’re okay!” Kitty chanted repeatedly, refusing to let Charles go no matter how he tried to pull away.

“Jeez, Kitty! Let the poor guy breathe,” Kurt chuckled after teleporting into place next to them. Rogue walked down the stairs, looking equally relieved that he was all right but quite a bit more hesitant in showing it. She flashed Erik a small smile. Kitty finally let Charles go and he stumbled a step back to return to his preferred spot next to Erik.

“It’s good to have you back,” Storm was finally able to say with a crooked smile. “In case you didn’t notice.”

They were practically dragged into the house for dinner. It was quite a feast compared to what was usually on the menu and when Charles commented politely on it, a few of the other teenage residents blushed and looked away. Erik couldn’t help smiling a little. It was good to be in a place that treated Charles the way he deserved. He deserved to be loved and treated well. Charles apparently picked up on that thought and poked Erik playfully under the table.

“They like you too, you know,” Charles whispered.

“You’d know,” Erik grinned.

The others wouldn’t let them leave the table for another two hours but for once, Erik didn’t mind their company, Even if his wounds did made it slightly uncomfortable to be sitting down for so long. Everyone wanted to know what had happened, and why they had come back to the Sanctuary if their home city was _cleared_ of the redwings.

“I like it here. I might stay as long as you’ll have me,” Charles said with a charming smile that had a few of the girls sigh with infatuation.

When at last they were able to leave the table and bid everyone goodnight, they entered their bedroom, pleased to find that someone had kept it warm and clean in their absence. Erik flopped down on the bed in gratitude. He was actually quite glad to be back.

“Tired?” Charles inquired amusedly.

“Worn,” Erik replied. “They definitely seem pleased to have their favorite therapist back.”

Charles laughed. Such an attractive sound after such a long day.

“I meant what I said earlier, Erik. They’re glad you made it back, too. Rogue especially.” Charles winked. “Not that I was listening.”

“I’m sure you weren’t,” Erik teased, casually watching his telepath undress. Charles had earned himself a few bruises from Emma but they appeared to have healed almost completely. He remembered a different time he’d been scanning his boyfriend for bruises. He motioned for Charles to come closer.

“Are you going to tell me why you’d ever forgive someone as utterly underserving as Cain?” he asked, keeping his voice as neutral as possible as he moved his fingers across every part of Charles’ naked chest he’d ever seen a bruise on.

“He needed me to,” Charles answered. He took advantage of their closeness and gently ran a hand through Erik’s hair, combing it away from his face. “I know you don’t get it. I probably wouldn’t get it either if I hadn’t looked inside his mind.”

“Just because he needs you to forgive him doesn’t mean you should, though,” Erik pointed out. Charles crawled into bed next to him and placed himself halfway on top of Erik’s chest, careful to avoid any of the bandaged areas.

“I know. But I don’t want my life to be dictated by the past either. This way we’re both free.”

“Was it bothering you that much?” Erik asked. He ran a hand down Charles back, enjoying the feel of the soft skin beneath his fingers.

“Not as much as it bothered Cain. But that might have more to do with the fact that I had more pressing matters to attend to, what with the threat to my life and all. But I think it would start to bother me more eventually,” Charles said, breath ghosting over Erik’s face. “And it would definitely have concerned me long-term to know how much it was hurting Cain.”

 _Of course it would._ Erik rolled them over so he was hovering above Charles with a hand on either side of him.

“You’re far too good for this world,” he muttered.

“Yeah?” Charles grinned at him, cupping his face affectionately.

“Yeah.”

Erik leaned down to capture his telepath’s lips. Charles kissed him back tenderly and pulled at his hair to get him closer. And that was honestly all Erik wanted out of life anymore. Just to be close to this beautiful, kind, _good_ person. Charles smiled into the kiss before pulling enough away to answer Erik’s unspoken question with a timid, “I can hear you, remember?”

“I don’t mind,” Erik laughed.

His eyes hungrily absorbed every inch of Charles’ face before the telepath grew impatient and pulled him back down for another kiss, this time tugging at Erik’s shirt. Erik let Charles unbutton the obstructing piece of clothing and push it off his shoulders. Charles made a small protesting sound as Erik pulled away to take his shirt all the way off. He let the telepath pull him back flush against him, needy hands finding their way into his hair as the skin of their chests made contact.

Erik traced his hands across the smaller form beneath him, smirking at how Charles moaned into his mouth when one of Erik’s hands went into his jeans. The younger teen threw his head back onto the pillow as the other began to stroke him. For once agreeing with his inner monster’s suggestions, the former hunter took advantage of the exposed neck, deciding to leave some new marks he wouldn’t mind seeing there in the future.

Charles’ hands tugged extra hard on Erik’s hair to get the older teen’s attention. His voice still at the mercy of Erik’s fingers, the telepath flooded his lover’s mind with images and emotions with the word **‘more’** echoing across them.

Erik kissed his final masterpiece on Charles’ neck on final time before sitting up to release the both of them from their jeans and underwear. The telepath watched him intensely, still crashing waves of love and want into Erik’s non-resisting mind.

Realizing the strength of their mental connection, Erik made sure to think as loudly and graphically as he could, quite efficiently distracting Charles as he descended on top of the boy to prepare him. As his fingers moved inside his lover, he gently kissed the juncture between Charles’ collarbones.

“ _Enough_ ,” Charles breathed and Erik removed his fingers.

He ran his hands over Charles’ thighs before pulling his legs around him. Sharp fingernails dug into his back as he carefully entered the beautiful boy. Erik watched the changes in Charles’ face in fascination as he adjusted to the uniting of their bodies. Darkened blue eyes opened and the telepath eagerly nodded his consent and let out a breathy moan as Erik began moving.

It was intriguing to watch as discomfort eventually turned into pleasure for his lover, but when it did Erik groaned appreciatively as Charles moved to match his pace. This was the way Erik wanted to feel always, perfectly connected to the one he loved the most, and who loved him with equal passion if one was to believe the fresh wave of emotion projecting off the boy.

Aiming to please, Erik thrust in harder and smiled at the enticing moan Charles emitted from the overflow of pleasure. He rested his forehead on the telepath’s shoulder, groaning into his ear as his hand moved back to its previous stroking. With the added sensations, Charles nails broke skin on Erik’s back as he was pushed over the edge to completion. Feeling the contraction of muscle around him, heat coiled in Erik’s middle and Erik followed him over the edge.

He collapsed down on top of Charles who made a small noise of discomfort at being crushed. Erik maneuvered them around so he could cradle his sleepy lover against his chest. Being too tired to actually reach all the way for his mouth, Charles settle for placing a small kiss on top of Erik’s chin.

“Love you,” the telepath whispered into his chest before falling asleep to Erik lovingly rubbing his back.

“Love you too,” Erik smiled into the now sleeping Charles’ hair. He didn’t need long to fall asleep either.

 

* * *

 

(Charles’ POV)

They were woken up in the early hours of the morning by an enthusiastic knocking on the door. Kitty was already up and weirdly excited for them to come join the others for breakfast.

“We’ll be down later,” he called out and mentally put a stop to her rising idea of bursting into their room. They were still very naked and she didn’t need that kind of scarring.

“Alright. But hurry!” she squealed through the door before finally leaving. Erik groaned in disapproval behind him.

“A little peace in the morning. Just until 10. Is that really too much to ask?” he complained into Charles’ neck. Charles chuckled.

“I’m sure she’ll get over it eventually,” he said, nuzzling into Erik’s hand resting in front of his face. “She did seem very excited about something today.”

“What’s there to be excited about? Did Storm finally cave and buy her that soy stuff?”

Charles turned in Erik’s arms to snuggle closer to his warm chest.

“I have no idea. I was distracted,” he teased.

He smiled at the way Erik’s chest moved underneath him as he laughed.

“Distracted, huh?”

“Yes,” Charles grinned, resting his eyes approvingly on the strong arms embracing him. “Very much so.”

“How much longer do we have until she comes back?” Erik asked and buried his nose in Charles’ hair.

“Oh, I’m sure we have…” he interrupted himself when his mind finally caught enough of the mental noise downstairs to pick up on the reason for Kitty’s excitement. “Actually, she’s right. Let’s go down for breakfast.”

“ _What_?” Erik asked and looked both confused and abandoned as Charles escaped his arms and began getting dressed. “It can’t wait?”

Charles grinned at him and shook his head. “I think we should join them sooner rather than later.”

Erik sat up, still looking thoroughly confused. “Maybe shower first?” he asked and gestured down his naked body.

“After breakfast,” Charles smirked and finished dressing. Erik gave the bed a final yearning glance before curiosity got the better of him and he had to put on clothes and follow Charles out of the haven of their bedroom.

He subtly let Erik take the lead down the stairs and into the kitchen. When Erik paused suddenly halfway through the door to the kitchen, Charles grinned again. There, sitting casually in one of the kitchen chairs, was a familiar face.

“Look who joined us for breakfast today!” Kitty beamed.

“Good morning, my friends,” Remy grinned and waved nonchalantly at Charles and Erik. His eyes lingered on Charles’ neck and he smirked. “I trust you slept _well_.”

Charles felt a blush rise in his cheeks. He’d forgotten to check if Erik had left a visible mark the night before. Erik finally snapped out of his state of shock.

“You’re alive?!” He looked so relieved and grateful, Charles’ heart warmed at the sight.

“It’s so very hard to properly get rid of vermin, isn’t it?” Remy winked.

“But I saw you,” Erik stated incredulously. “I saw you die.”

Remy grinned and took a sip of coffee. “I’m a great actor. Hey, I even convinced an entire high school that I was a teenager.”

Charles thought Erik would spew more confused statements of incomprehension but instead, his boyfriend laughed. He sat down next to his old friend who patted him on the back and went back to eating.

They spent the rest of breakfast listening to Storm and Remy debate new ideas for scouting for new crystalizing hearts. After all, they had years to prepare. Remy seemed undeniably pleased upon hearing that Erik and Charles intended to stay at the Sanctuary to provide help for others who would suffer like they had.

“Well, I should be off. I have another situation to keep my eyes on elsewhere,” Remy declared as he got up to leave. They followed him to the door where he turned bowed theatrically with a wink.

“At the very least, I’ll see you in 13 years for the next batch.”

 

 

The end

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's the end of the story. Thanks for reading - I hope you enjoyed it! ^_^


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